A Family Visit
by titansfan1211
Summary: What happens when Bruce Wayne stays at the tower for a week? Utter chaos! Robin will be forced to face his past, at the same time trying to keep his half brothers Damian and Tim from killing each other. And did I mention that slade's got a new apprentice?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Teen Titans or Batman and company. Not even a goldfish... :) enjoy!

"RING! RING!" Robin was surprised to find not his communicator going off, but his cell phone.

"Um, hello?" The rest of the titans gathered around, trying to hear his conversation. Raven and Starfire were being inconspicious, pretending to be putting away dishes. Cyborg and Beastboy though... well, they were just following the poor boy around where ever he paced, listening to the snippets from his side of the line.

"Oh were all good thanks, how about yourself, Mayor?" There were raised eyebrows of the other titans. What could the mayor want? There was a long explination on the other line. "Oh... I see... um... who exactly?"

There was another long pause, and Robin reached for his water. When the mayor answered, his eyes grew wide, and the boy blunder went into a caughing fit, choking on the water. "Excuse me? No, no, everything _fine_... Um, just wasn't who I was expecting is all..."

"No! No trouble! It's just... are you sure it's neccecary? I doubt he needs that much security..."

"Yea I know that, I lived in Gotham for a while. But I'm sure that he's perfectly capable of protecting himself..." Robin made a face, and Raven could've swarn he rolled his eyes under the mask. "Well of course we'd step in if there were any problems, but I doubt-"

Robin sighed impatiently. "Well he lived in Gotham his whole life. I'm beyond _sure _he knows some self defence, I mean, it's practically a requirement if you want to live in Gotham without getting yourself-" he was cut off again. When he spoke again, he had a fake cheeryness to his voice, dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, I see. Special request huh? Well then, I guess we have no choice but to be hospitable, now do we... No, no problem at all. When is he coming?" The boy scowled.

Robin's eyes widened in shock. "A week? Um... ok, I guess... no, it's ok, I'll work out the details with him... ok... your welcome... bye." Robin hung up the phone, almost snapping it in half, and grinding his teeth togther. By now, even the girls had stopped acting like they weren't listening, too curious as to what was going on.

"Uh, dude? What was that about?"

"In a second." Robin started dialing another number, pacing while impatiently waiting for the person on the other line to pick up. "Hey, Barb... yea, it's me... NO! Everything's fine. What? Just because I call means somthing bad's happened? Thanks for having some faith in me!" There was a long pause on the other line. "Yea, did you hear about-?" Robin by now, was waving his hands around in exaspiration.

"I know! I can't believe he has the absolute nerve to set all this up!" The boy wonder rolled his eyes, and let out a bitter laugh.

"Cares? Really Babs? No. That's not it. He still thinks I'm his little puppet! He's doing this to prove he still has CONTROL over me!" The titans sent a mutual look among themselves. What was going on?"

"No. He is NOT my-!... Nah, he's too busy being an emotionless rock... hold on, that's him on the other line. Be right back."

Robin pressed a button, then screamed into the phone, "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!" a timid voice answered on the other line, and Robin smacked his forehead, face turning red. "Sorry Babs, I guess I forgot to switch lines...yea I guess that wasn't the best opener anyway... actualy... hold on." This time, Robin made sure he switched lines before answering. "Um, hello? Oh, hey Al... yea, yea, everythings fine, well except the fact that he was stupid enough to-... I know, you're right... but he still could've run it by us first, stupid Bat..."

If Robin's accidentaly cursing off at the wrong person wasn't enough to distract the titans from what they were doing, the mention of Batman was. "He wants to what...? I guess that makes sense... as Bat or-... ok. I'll connect the server now. Later Alf."

The titans watched as Robin shuffled over to the computer, looking as if he wanted to do anything but. They didn't recognise the server he joined, but they recognised the voice that came from the other end. "Robin..."

"Batman."

"You know why I called."

"Unfortunately. Why?"

"Don't you think it'd be strange if he _didn't_ try to get some of the best security in Jump City?" Robin smirked.

"Yea, like Bruce really needs any 'protection' besides a box of condoms. Oh, what's gonna happen, he's gonna get mugged in a deep dark ally by some thug with a gun?"

"..."

"Oops. Forgot about that... heh... Well, uh... you know what I mean. He's fine without us as his 'bodygaurds' ugh. As if. It's not like J- uh, a certain clown, is coming... or is he?"

"Dude, are you talking about JOKER?" Robin winced at the name, somthing only Batman caught.

"Yes, Beastboy, but no, hopefully, we're not dealing with him any time soon... hope you never have to meet him... he's locked up in Arkam?"

Batman glared at him. "He escaped yesterday." Robin shrugged.

"Anyway... anything _else_ we should know about?"

"Tim's coming with him." Robin groaned in exaspiration. "Is there a problem?" Robin just glared at the bat.

"No... everything's just _swell._ What, is he gonna bring Damian too? Bring the whole clan with him?" Batman swore, somthing Robin had never heard before, causing him to smirk.

"I forgot Damian was coming next week..."

"YOU... FORGET? Ha! Never thought I'd see the day... but there is NO WAY he's coming anywhere near-"

"He has to come."

"WHAT? WHY? He's evil! Did you forget the fact that he was TRAINED BY ASSASSINS? He's evil!"

"He's been trying to be good. Where else is he supposed to go?"

"Um, anywhere but here would be nice. Dealing with Timmy for more than a day is hard. Meetin Damian once, and dealing with him for an hour, was worse times ten. Him and Damian in the same place? For a WEEK? They'll destroy the city, start World War Three, and kill each other... within the first hour!"

"They get along better than you credit them. Maybe you should try it." Robin glared at the screen.

"Are you kidding? Do you REMEMBER how Tim reacted when he found out Damian was his brother? What he call him, the son of the devil or somthing? After spending a week TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER?"

"Well, if they're your guests, then I'm sure they'll be on their best behavior."

"Well, Tim might, but maybe none of them are welcome here."

"Well maybe you don't have a choice in the matter."

"Oh, whatcha gonna do? Huh? Make me go back to Gotham?"

"I still have the right to do that."

"No, you don't! Who do you think you are?"

"Your father!"

Robin glared at the screen, seething mad. "You-you are NOT my father! Not by blood, not by paper, not by anything! I HATE you! OK? Just LEAVE ME ALONE!" there was an akward silence, the titans now wishing they had snuck out of the room. Robin visably calmed down, before speaking.

"Look. _Bruce, Tim, and Damian _may stay here next week, for no more than a week, so long as _Batman, and Robin, _stay in Gotham. Got it?"

"Fine." Robin hung up communications. And spun around to face his now very confused friends.

"Uh... Dude? What was that all about? And who are Bruce, Tim and Damian? And aren't you Robin?" Robin ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

"There's been other Robin's in Gotham. I was replaced almost the second I left the city."

"Ok, so what about those people?"

"They... um... you've all heard of Bruce Wayne, right?"

"Of course, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, we're gonna have some guests next week... Tim Drake, and Damian and Bruce Wayne."

"Seriously! BRUCE WAYNE is staying HERE? DUDE! Sweet! Wait, if Damian is his kid, who's that other guy?"

Robin rolled his eyes, having a dificult time trying not to puke at his enthusiasm. "Look. Bruce has a son named Damian, and Tim is his older son, whom he has recently... adopted. Bruce has some buisness he has to do in this city, and he... requested, to stay here at the tower." Robin smirked. "Cause there are sooooo many people here that would want to attack poor Bruce. Ugh." Robin said sarcastically.

"So, since Bruce Wayne is sooooooo scared, he's gonna stay here, where we'll 'protect' him."

"Please, why do you say it like it is a joke?" asked Starfire.

_Hmm, because he's batman maybe? _"Because he lives in Gotham with no security on a daily basis."

"Why is gotham such a big deal dude? Everyone thinks it's so BA to live there. It's just another city." Robin stared at the green kid for a moment.

"Have you ever_ been_ to Gotham?"

"No."

"Do you think the villains we face are bad? Evil?"

"Well duh! What is this, 20 Q?"

"And how many murdered victims have you seen in this city."

"... one."

"Have you ever heard of the Penguin? Twoface? Riddler?... Joker?" the green boy nodded.

"I heard they were extremely bad, that they'd make our villians look like a joke." pointed out Raven, and Robin nodded.

"Those guys, and dozens of other psycos, were ones I faught on a daily basis when I lived in Gotham. And that's in addidion to the normal criminals. Gotham isn't like Jump City, Beastboy. The villains escape almost as fast as you put them away. Accept for a few of them, the police are all corrupt. There aren't just muggers, bank robbers, drunk drivers. There are drug dealers, rapists, cerial killers, child abusers. None of the villians here that we've faced kill. They just try to get whatever their greedy paws want. In Gotham, it's a free for all.

"The criminals won't hold out on using a gun. They will shoot you. And others. You know how many people Joker alone has killed with his lauging gas?" no answer came from the scared changeling. "Hundreds, possibly even thousands by now. And when he kills them, it's with a smile on his face. Most everyone else won't hesitate to kill either. To kidnap. Poison. They'll do anything. It doesn't matter if you've done anything to them either." he looked up, adressing his friend.

"If you walk on the streets at night, you are either a villian, a vigilante, or a victim. If you aren't wearing a mask and cape, you're considered a target. If you go outside at night... there's a chance the next time you go inside you'll be in a casket or on a hospital bed. And they don't just attack middle aged people, either. They attack elderly, and children... have you ever seen a dead child, Beastboy?"

He shook his head no. "Ha-have you?" he nodded his head grimly.

"Dozens, Beastboy. Murdered... Not becuase they did anything wrong, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. One was no older than three. Twoface had gotten her, her name was Faith... when we found her... it was too late." he saw Beastboy starting to squirm, but didn't stop talking. "Once, Beastboy, Joker decided to hand out candy at a carnival. It was laced with mercury salt. You know what that does, Beastboy? It causes your body to shut down, little by little. You know how many kids go to carnivals?" Beastboy gulped, picturing the sight. "Who do you think found them while Batman was busy searching for Joker? Me and Batgirl. She's about a year or two older than you, Cyborg. That happened when I was 11 and she was 15."

The half-robot shifted from side to side uncomfortably. "In Gotham, you learn self defense or you die. End of story. Even that's not enough. There are **bad people** in that city. And are they ever punished? No. Get the death penalty? No. They get out of jail by giving a corrupt cop information about someone they're looking for. They get out of the death penalty by claiming insanity."

He glanced over his friends, seeming much older than the rest of them. "That, Beastboy, is why Gotham is so bad." On that note, he walked out the door, planning on what to do for the following week.

**So... love it? Hate it? Please let me know! :) oh, and btw, it won't all be as emofied as the end of this chapter, i mean it IS under humor :)


	2. excuses excuses

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Teen Titans or Batman or Batgirl or Batdog or Batfish...

"Shit!" Robin exclaimed, hopping up and down on one foot. While pacing around his room, he stubbed his toe against the corner of his desk. Of course this had to happen the one time he paced bare footed. The boy blunder grumbled to himself, walking down to the training room.

Yes, it was only four in the morning, but that didn't stop him. No, he wasn't training, as much of his time was spent. Three in the morning was the only time he had in the gym where he could be sure none of the others were up. He didn't want them to catch him. Taking one last look around the hall, he opened the doors to the training room, slid a hidden panel out from the wall, and pushed a button.

The gym transformed, all the other equipment moved to the side. Now in the center of the cleared out area, was a set of trapeze. Taking one last look around, he climbed up the ladder that had come down from the ceiling, and stood on a platform, trapeze in hand.

He pushed off of the platform, and went soaring into the air. Back and forth between the two trapeze he went, perfectly executing triple aerial somersault. He performed a number of other tricks and flips, before landing on the platform. He climbed down the ladder, and brought out a net, securing it under the trapeze. He knew he didn't need it. Physically, he was able to do this next trick. It was more mentally. He climbed back up.

After taking a deep breath, he pushed off ready to do a perfect quadruple somersault. His families signature trick. Now that he was the only Grayson left, he was the only one able to pull it off. He let go of the trapeze. One, two, three, four... and he reached out for the next trapeze. Remembering his parents and how they fell to their death, though, he hesitated. His fingers touched the next bar, but slipped off, and he fell down into the safety net. He swore.

He had done that trick dozens of times before. Of course, all of those times were _before _the 'accident.' He had done the trick after only once or twice in the Batcave, when Batman wasn't around. For some reason, he had never been able to do it in Titans Tower. Of course, he hadn't _tried _at all until just recently. None of the titans new of the trapeze. He wanted to keep it that way.

"Of course I hesitated! I always do! Isn't that why my parents are dead? Why I failed as a hero before I even put on a mask? I'm always too slow!" He growled in frustration, and knew whatever training dummies he got a hold of were in for it today. Calming himself down, he went up to the trapeze, prepared to try a second time. This time, he didn't put enough momentum into the swing, and didn't make it far enough to reach the second trapeze.

_You never did try hard enough... _His thoughts took to Batman's voice. "I could never please the old bat now could I?" he said aloud. "Never good enough for Bruce. I failed him just like I failed my parents." He got up to the trapeze yet again, prepared to do this.

This time though, he got up to the platform and stopped there, sitting down. Remembering what was coming up a week from that day. Sunday, March 20th, the day Bruce Wayne would be coming to the tower, was his birthday. Two days later, on the 22nd, was the anniversary of his parents' death. Great. Of all the weeks for Bruce to come... he sighed in defeat. "I bet he planned that..." his jaw set in a new determination. The same kind of determination he would have when first attempting the more simple tricks, when he was six years old.

He flew through the air, performing flips one, two, three, four... reached out, and grabbed the opposite bar. He smiled to himself, performing a flip as he landed on the next platform, proud of himself. Because of his good mood, he flew back and forth between the two swings, performing dozens of aerial tricks. He ended with a double flip, landing on the opposite side of which he started.

He looked at his watch, seeing that two hours had passed, and it was now six. He decided it was time to hide his secret, knowing the others would start to wake up around this time. He reached for his water bottle, and as he did, something caught the corner of his eye... rather, some_one_. His eyes widened in surprise, as he saw the rest of the titans staring at him wide eyed through the glass wall separating the gym from the hallway. "Crap."

Worried, the boy wonder hastily put the equipment away, and joined his friends in the hallway, who were still staring. "Um... hey, guys?" Still, they stared at him. "Um... what are you all doing up so early?"

"It's seven o' clock. Why wouldn't be up?" asked Raven.

"Seven? I thought it was only-"

"Dude, daylight savings. We go forward an hour. Didn't you remember?" asked Beastboy. "And what's with all the circus-y stuff?"

"Uh..."

"Not to mention, since when was there a trapeze in the training room? And since when are you a trapeze artist?" Robin's eyes widened at the accusation.

"I-I'm not a trapeze artist!" _Anymore..._ he added in his head.

"Man, I'm not trying to make it sound offensive," defended Cyborg.

"I wasn't taking it offensively. Why, should I? Is being in the circus a bad thing?"

"Dude, you're saying instead of being a crime fighter, you'd rather hang out with the carnies and clowns and all those other freaks?"

"They are NOT freaks!" Robin said, starting to take offense to this particular conversation, being an ex-circus member himself.

"Robin, calm down. We're not asking if you're, like, Richard Grayson or somthing crazy like that." (Robin relaxed a little, relieved his identity was safe.) "We just want to know why you have a secret trapeze in the training room. You don't have to hide it. We don't care. There is enough space in the training room that you could keep it out."

"No, it's ok. Um... how much of that did you see?" he asked, worried that they had seen his quadruple somersault. If they had, they would have the ultimate proof of his identity.

"Just after some flippy thingy you did that made you all smiley or somthing. What did you do? Some fancy flip?"

"Um... sure."

"Robin, who is the _Richard Grayson _of which Raven spoke?" asked Starfire, who had been rather quiet. Before Robin could come up with an answer, Beastboy cut in.

"DUDE! How do you NOT know who he is? He's like, the world's youngest trapeze artist!"

"Was." Robin reminded, a hint of sadness in his voice. "He's just a normal kid now."

"But why Robin? Did he not like the circus? I have heard it is a most wondrous place." He smiled.

"Yea, the circus is pretty great. And he loved the circus. He wasn't alowed to stay, because_ they_said it was 'dangerous' for him or something." Robin said, voice turning bitter at the end.

"Who is they? And why was it not safe?"

"Social Services. They thought... _Zucco _would try and attack him." Seeing the curious stares, he added in disgust, "Tony Zucco knew that Grayson would lead the cops straight to him... for the death of his parents." he looked at the ground as to not meet his friends gazes.

"That sucks... wait a second, how do you know all of this? With your little performance, if I didn't know better, I'd say you _are _Richard Grayson!" Robin's eyes widened, as he tried to think of an excuse.

"He, uh, went to my school. We were friends back in Gotham. He told me."

"So he is the one who taught you how to do the arting of trapeze?" asked Starfire.

"Um... yea. He figured it would help with the crime fighting." the others nodded, as if that explained everything.

"Wait, you _told _him your secret identity?" asked Raven.

"Uh..."

"I mean, you couldn't have gone to school wearing that." she said, motioning at his costume. "You would've gotten yourself killed if what you said about Gotham was true, which I don't doubt. And he would've only known you for a couple of years out of all the time you were in Gotham... which means you trusted him much more than you trust us."

"What! No, that's not it, it's just-"

"You trust him more," cut in Beastboy. "I'm guessing those stunts aren't easy, and if he taught them to you, it would've taken years to learn. That means you told him, probably not long after you started. We've known you for a lot longer than that, and you haven't told us who you are. You trust him more." this time when he said it, it was more a statement than an accusation.

Robin sighed. "It's not like that, I trust you guys more than anything it's just... a complicated situation."

"Robin man, what's the deal!" exclaimed a pissed off half-robot. "We've known you for years, have been fighting with you for years, and the only thing we know about your past is that you used to work with Batman in Gotham, and apparently were friends with some circus kid! We have never once brought up your past, knowing what our own have been like. It's a NAME. Why can't you just tell us!"

"Because! I think of all of you as family! Seeing as Batman practically disowned me, you all are the only family I have! That's why I can't tell you! You know how that bit of information can be used against you? I don't want any of you getting hurt!"

"We can take care of ourselves, Robin! We aren't little kids! And if you haven't noticed, we picked this as our career choice! We willingly go into danger every day, knowing the consequences! We aren't gonna get hurt because a villian finds out we know who you are! It's not that big of a secret!"

"Maybe not my name, but my identity tags onto Batman's! You know how many people, how many villians would love to get their hands on that name?" they stayed silent. "Who is under that cowl, is Gotham's biggest mystery!"

"So you're saying if people know we know who you are, they'll assume we know who Batman is."

"Right, because you basically would know who he is."

"Ooooh, what are they gonna do? Threaten to kill us?" Robin mumbled somthing under his breath, while turning pale. "I'm sorry, what was that?" He refused to answer. "Good thing my 'brain' basically records everything that happens..." he played back what Robin sayed, louder.

"Yea, kill ya and unkill ya and kill ya again..." the other's eyes widened in shock.

"Uh... care to explain?" asked Raven, a little spooked herself.

"Ever hear of Rahs Al Goul?" they shook their heads no. "Good. He's bad. Real bad. Ugh, and not just cause he's practically my half, step, whatever you call it grandpa in law."

Beastboy opened his mouth asking for an explination, and Robin just shook his head. "It's way too complicated. I barely understand it. Anyways, besides the fact that he's a better fighter than Slade _and _Batman, he's immortal. As in, no matter how many times you kill him, he'll just keep coming back. He wants to preserve the enviorment, which is good, but his way of preserving it is destroying tecnology, and killing any humans in his way." The others shared a look.

"So, he basically has almost infinate knowledge of the past and whatever, but even he couldn't figure out who Batman was. So when he heard Batman was starting to work with others... he never went after Batgirl, after assuming she didn't know his identity. Of course, she did, but it's better he doesn't know that. When I came around, he just could _tell_ that I knew his identity. He was right. I knew who Batman was even before I had put on the mask and cape."

"Wait, how did you know who Batman was if this Goul guy couldn't figure it out?" aksed Beastboy.

"He kinda told me, well, after I found the Batcave in his basement."

"Anyway..." Raven urged on.

"Anyway, I was only ten and had only about a years worth of experience. One night I was on patrol, and Batman was on the other side of town. Usually me and Batgirl would work together, but she was busy helping her dad that night." seeing the curious stares, he added, "Her dad doesn't exactly know about the whole Batgirl thing. So, I was patroling, and I got kidnapped. Ra's took me to some fountain elixer thing, that apparently can bring the dead back to life. He asked if there was anyone I'd want to bring back, saying all I needed to give in exchange, was Batman's identity."

"I knew it was wrong, but I was extremely tempted. Batman had been telling me for a year that there was nothing I could do to bring back... certain relatives... and staring me in the face was an opertunity to bring them back, and to start over. I refused the offer though, knowing it wouldn't work out. I mean, it'd be suspicious to see supposed dead people walking around. Since I refused, he killed me." The others gasped in surprise.

"But then... how are you?"

"Alive? You see, after he killed me, he threw me into the fountain, bringing me back to life. Then he asked again, and again I refused to answer. And he killed me again." his face took on a grim expression. "Each time he killed me in a worse way, each time more gruesome than the last..." he shook his head. "Seventeen times, he killed me, before Batman came and saved me. Trust me, that is NOT somthing I wan't any of you to have to go through."

"So you had told Grayson before you were kidnapped by Ra's." inferred Raven, as he nodded yes.

"It's not a matter of trusting you guys, I just worry."

"Wait a second." Raven thought aloud, "You know how Bruce Wayne and his two kids are staying here?"

"Unfortunately."

"My mother used to live in Gotham, before she was taken to Azarath, and she would tell me about it... isn't your friend Richard _also _Bruce Wayne's kid?"

_"Crap." _He thought. "_I was kinda hoping you'd all forget about that..." _Out loud he said, "Yea, his foster kid... what's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, if Mr. Wayne is bringing his other two kids, why isn't he bringing Richard?"

"Uh..."

"I mean, I'm sure he would've insisted on coming to visit you, if you were such close friends."

_"Crap! Can I even answer this? What am I supposed to say, oh, he's not coming, because he already lives here! I'm really Richard Grayson! Yea, like that's gonna happen!" _

He just shrugged his shoulders, look of pure innocence on his face. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure he's in boarding school or somthing..."

"But I thought you went to the same school as him?" asked Cyborg, getting suspicious. "_Crap. I am sooo screwed."_

"Um, well yea... but that was when I lived in Gotham, years ago. I mean, sometimes kids were pretty mean to him..."_ Well,_ f_or the first month I was there, I was know as the homeschooled circus freak, so I guess that counts._

"So you were like, his only friend until you left or somthing?" _Actually, I had tons of friends, but sure, lets go with that!_

"Yea, yea. I guess the bullying got worse when no one was sticking up for him. I guess Bruce put him in private school to get away from it."

"I thought you said boarding school?"

"Well, uh, same difference, right?" _Please buy it, please buy it..._

"Yea, I guess school is school is school dude."

"Yea. Um, I'm gonna go call Bruce and stuff, you know, figure out all the details and stuff." and with that, Robin practically sprinted down the hall.

As he ran to his room, he thought to himself_, Bruce, you soooo owe me big time after that!_

****So, love it? Hate it? Let me know!** **


	3. arrival

**Hey, I want to thank you all for the reviews :) Thank you! Whooo! Only like, twenty days till the Red Hood movie comes out! Oh, and just a warning, this chapter is longer than usual.

A week had passed. Bruce Wayne and his two kids would be at the tower in an hour.

Robin, as you probably could have figured out faster than the worlds greatest detective himself, was NOT in a good mood. In one hour, he would have to deal with Bruce's fake show of being some pretty boy millionaire putting on his charms and airs. He would have to deal with Tim and Damian's fights, and once they were split up, the death glares sent to each other from across the room. He would have to deal with pretending to have no problems with Bruce, and pretend to be a stranger to the man he once almost called his father.

And to top it all off, it was his birthday. Somehow, after five years with the titans, he had managed to keep his birthday away from the other titans. Beastboy had pestered him about it to no end, sure, but Robin had always managed to get the shapeshifter to drop it with a threat of extra training. After the first year or two of no response, Beastboy finaly stopped asking. All the other titans' birthdays had been found out over time, but not Robin's. To the others, it didn't seem like he had a birthday.

Robin only acknowledged his birthday, because of his age. He knew that when he was 18, Bruce would no longer be his legal gaurdian, since he hadn't bothered to adopt him. He would finaly be free of the man's shadow once and for all. He considered his real birthday to be not March 20th, but the 28th. The day he first became Robin. He remembered his 'naming' quite clearly. It was just after Richard had followed Batman to the circus, where he was trying to catch Tony Zucco, the man who murdered Richard's parents. He came in a makeshift costume, made up of a cape and mask in adition to the costume his mother had made him for their circus act. The one he never got to perform in, thanks to Zucco. After Zucco was apprehended...

_"You know, I've been thinking, Dick. Maybe Bruce Wayne isn't the best one to raise you."_

_"Yea, I've kind of noticed he isn't around much." after a short pause, he asked, "If not Bruce Wayne, how about the Batman?"_

_After Batman thought it over for a minute, he responded, "We'll need to give you a name."_

_Richard looked down at the costume made by his mother, and remembered a nickname she had given him before her death. "How about... Robin?"_

_"Like the bird?"_

_He smiled. "It's a family name."_

In that moment, Dick Grayson became Robin. Over the years, Richard became the mask Robin wore, instead of the other way around. "_Man," _He thought to himself. _"Eight days from now, I'll have been crime fighting for nine years. Doesn't feel that long." _He walked into the living room, making sure everything was all set. No, he wasn't planning some big celebration or party, as if. And no, he wasn't going to set up the tower to be all pretty and fancy. He was trying to make the house look clean.

He knew Bruce would be surprised at the messiness, but what could he expect? There were five teens living in the tower! Plus, they didn't have Alfred picking up after them. But, he could try to make the tower look at least presentable, and straighten up things. He made sure the guest rooms were immaculate. He made sure Beastboy hadn't picked the coffe table to clip his toenails on, and he made sure the fridge didn't have anything growing in it. Once that was done, he went to pacing.

The rest of the titans watched as he paced around, deep in thought. They didn't know why, but they knew he was really wound up about their visitors. When he wasn't in the room, they talked about it.

"Please, why is Robin in such distress? A visitor is a good thing, yes?"

"Usually, Starfire," answered Raven. "But Robin used to be friends with this guy's son, and Bruce doesn't even know it. It might be a little strange having his past visit him."

"Yea, and not to mention visits, have you ever seen him talk to Batman accept for that one time the other day? And has he ever gone to Gotham to visit? I mean, you all met the Doom Patrol, and I still keep in touch with them. Cyborg goes and visits his dad sometimes, Starfire's been back to Tamaran, heck even Raven's visited her mom! And was... visited, by her... dad. Hehe."

"He might just not get along with Batman, B. I mean, you and Mento had your falling out, and I was mad at my dad for a while for turning me into this," pointed out Cyborg.

"But Blackfire and I have kept in contact even when she was in prison!" exclaimed Starfire. The others shared a look.

"Well Star, no offense, but sometimes you're a little too nice for your own good..." Raven's voice trailed off, as the boy wonder entered the room.

"Bruce, Tim and Damian should be here in exactly ten minutes. Just to let you know."

"_Exactly, _ten minutes? What is he, like, extremely on time?" Robin rolled his eyes under the mask.

"You could say that..." It was exactly twelve, and no sign of Bruce.

"Dude, I thought you said he was always on time?" Robin hid a smile.

"I don't know what could be keeping him!" he said, and slumped down on the couch. Ten minutes later, an irked Bruce Wayne entered the tower.

"Hello, you must all be the Teen Titans. A pleasure to meet you all," he greeted, charming as ever. Robin tried and failed to roll his eyes. He put on an extremely fake smile.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne. It's a pleasure to meet you." They shook hands, Robin barely visibaly cringing. After the casualties, Robin asked, a face of pure innocense, "So, what took you so long, if you don't mind me asking?"

Bruce tried with all his might not to glare at his former protogee, and managed to look only slightly annoyed. "Oh, nothing major, you just happened to forget to tell me the tower was on an island," he said, still smiling. "It took a few minutes to find a rowboat by the shore, and to get here." Robin let a partial smile slip through his mask of chastity.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wouldn't have made you go through all that trouble if you had just called. There actually is an underground tunnel that leads up to the garage."

"Is there now?" more of his annoyance was seeping through. Robin nodded, smile on his face.

"Yea, I suppose I forgot to mention that!" The titans stood in the backround, curiously watching the exchange.

"Mind introducing me to your friends?" he aksed, charming front back.

He pointed to each titan in turn. "That's Beastboy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven." They each nodded or waved in acknowledgement.

"Um, dude? Er, uh, Mr. Wayne?"

"Yes, Beastboy, was it?"

"Yea. Uh, Robin said you were bringing your kids, Tim and Damian with you. Where exactly are they?"

Bruce looked slightly flustered. "Well, they don't know about they tunnel enterance, and neither can drive anyway, so..."

"They're in the rowboat, aren't they?" Robin asked, starting to worry himself.

"Well, Damian and I rowed up, and he said he'd row back for Tim..." he stopped talking, realizing that they boy wonder had already left.

"Uh, what's going on?" asked Raven. Bruce just shrugged his shoulders. Fifteen minutes later, Robin came back dragging a Tim and Damian with him. All three were drenched.

"Dudes, you're all are wet," the changeling pointed out the obvious.

"What the heck happened?" asked Cyborg, extremely confused.

"_That _is for_ them _to explain," said the cross boy wonder, who stormed out of the room. All eyes turned to the two boys. The older looking of the to, glared at the other, and spoke up.

"Well, Damian over here thought it'd be funny to row the boat to where I was wating, and stop ten feet away from the shore." He glared at the younger boy, who just smirked. "So, I go to swim over to the boat, and he starts rowing away." Damian was laughing by this point. "So, ignoring his childish behavior, I started to swim to the shore of the island. Meanwhile, this little genious thought it'd be funny to try and run me over."

Damian cut in to finish the story. "No, I was just trying to row the boat over to him so he could get in before freezing to death. He misenterpreted my intentions." Tim rolled his eyes. "So, I get the boat over to him, and he gets in, and pushes _me_ into the water!" Tim smirked.

"Yea, but then _he _grabs onto my arm and pulls me in with him!" Damian stuck his tounge out at Tim. "So, the boat tips over, and by the time we get it right side up, we'd lost the oars."

"So, since this nitwit is incapable to holding onto an oar, we were stranded unless we wanted to swim across, but we were both tired, and tried paddling with our hands," Damian added.

"Then Robin came outside, saw us, and swam out to us," cut in Tim. "So he got over to us, and told us both to grow up and stop fighting each other."

"Yea, accept he didn't say it so nicely," grumbled Damian.

"So, with his help, we all eventually got across," concluded Tim. The titans and Bruce stared at the two. "What?" Raven just shook her head, knowing that this would be a long week.

Robin re-entered the room, dried off. "So, they told you the story?"

"Yea." Cyborg answered.

"And I suppose they left some of it out?"

"Probably," concluded Raven. "Do you know what?" Robin looked over at the two, who were silently begging him to keep quiet. He didn't want to start off on the wrong foot with them.

"Nothing important." when the others weren't looking, each shot him greatful looks. "_Yea, you guys probably don't want them to know that when I got out to you, you were fist fighting in the boat, and trying to drown each other." _He smirked.

"So, how's your other son? Richard or whomever?" asked Beastboy, not realizing the panick he had caused his leader.

"Oh, Richard's fine." Bruce asked, sending suspicious looks towards Robin. "Why do you ask?"

"Um... No reason, I was just wondering why he didn't come. He's our age, isn't he?" Beastboy asked, clearly confused.

"Yes, my son turns eighteen today."

"But is he really your son anymore?"

"What do you mean, Robin?" He shot his ward a suspicious look.

"Well, you never adopted him. Now he's a legal adult."

"What's your point?"

"You can only adopt kids. Not adults." Robin's voice seemed to be getting quieter and sadder with each word. "You can't adopt him anymore. Whether he wants you to or not."

"Dude, why are you all mopey sounding? Did Batman like, forget to adopt you or somthing?" Robin's eyes grew big under the mask, and Bruce started wringing his hands nervously.

"Um... what makes you think that? I mean, for all you know he could be my like, my dad or my uncle or somthing. Or-or who ever said my parents are dead? I mean, Cyborg, your dad's alive..."

"I don't know dude. Batman just doesn't seem like the 'dad' type." Tim and Damian both hid smirks, while Bruce and Robin just looked ammused.

"I would not say that," voiced Starfire. "He has worked with many young kids, has he not?"

"Yea." Robin smiled. "He's worked with like, four or five now. And that's not counting the times he had to deal with Speedy and Kid Flash too."

"Oh, that must've been fun for him." Bruce stated sarcastically, sending a look towards Robin.

"Oh, he loved it." seeing the confused looks, he stated, "Ok, so he liked the five minutes we were quiet. He hated the rest of the time. It was awesome- we drove him crazy and superglued him to a wall once."

Tim and Damian stared at their brother with newfound respect. "Care to explain that one?" asked Tim, eyes a glow.

"Yea dude! You gotta! You never pull pranks!" He laughed. Robin agreed, and everyone sat forward in anticipation, including Bruce, who would finaly see it from the other perspective.

"Ok, so sometimes when the Justice League had missions with our mentors involved, I'd hang out at the watch tower with Kid Flash and Speedy. Well, we were beyond bored. There were no adults to bother, since Cl-Superman was on a mission with Green Arrow and Green Lantern, and the Flash and Wonder Woman were out too. None of the other aduts would even bother with us at this point. So we just sat around.

"After about an hour or two, we had gone down to the cafeteria, and forgeting that KF wasn't supposed to be having a lot of sugar let him go roam around. So, he got a hold of some laffy taffys and pixie sticks. Yea, that explains that. So he got all hyper. Then, since me and Speedy were hyper as well, we weren't thinking straight. Speedy had the briliant idea to switch his non caffinated soda with a red bull.

"Now, we didn't know what caffine did to him at the time. He apparently goes insane. Almost literally. So, there we are in the middle of the Watch Tower, with KF bouncing off the walls. So, we called Black Canary, cause she usually knew what to do in situations like that, and she probably wouldn't tell our mentors. Well, she'd tell GA, and Batman would probably find out somehow... but Flash wouldn't find out. So it would work.

"She told us he would just need to let off some steam, and told us we should too, considering the sugar intake. So we went to one of the training rooms. All was well, and we didn't even bother the art stuff Supergirl had left out for some school project. Well, after a while me and Speedy were back to normal, but KF was still hyper. Speedy and I sparred for a while, with KF running all over the room.

"After a while, we got bored again. We started getting hyper again, since it was getting late. Now, Speedy and I were used to staying up for patrol, but we'd usually be sent home by like, one or two o'clock, since at the time we were all about ten years old. It was already three.

"Batman got back from whatever mission he was on, and came to check on us before he went out on patrol. Bad move on his part. See, Supergirl had come by to get her supplies, but forgot a bottle of spilt superglue. Three hyper kids, two armed and one with superspeed and superglue, is not a good combo.

"He came in the room, and seeing KF's hyper state, he started yelling at me and Speedy. We both were kinda ticked off, and yelled back, because we didn't know he couldn't have caffine. So, we were all yelling at each other. And I made a move to punch Batman. Huh. Now that I think of it, fights are usually how we started training... anyway, he dodged, and while doing so, his cape got some glue on it. So, he starts sparring with me and Speedy, when his cape sticks to the wall.

"It was stuck. We knew he'd get his cape un-stuck eventually. Wordlessly, I shared a look with Speedy and KF, who had somewhat calmed down. We all smiled. Before Bats could even process what was happening, I had stolen his belt, Speedy had covered the rest of his back and the wall with glue, and Kid Flash had stuck him to the wall the rest of the way, and dried the glue. Try as he might, the dark night couldn't get free.

"It was great. Plus it was captured on tape. Heh. We left a sign on the wall next to him stating, _'_this work of art was brought to you by KF, Speedy and Robin.' We just sat there laughing our heads off, until we heard someone coming. We left the room as fast as we could, which was a good thing, becuase that someone was Wonder Woman. She- to Batman's displeasure- was the one who found him glued to the wall. We all knew we were dead, but it was still great."

Robin smiled at the memory, as the titans, with Tim and Damian, laughed their heads off. Bruce tried not to look embarassed, as to not give away his identity. Beastboy, once he had regained control, asked, "Dude! Ok, so that was like, way epic and stuff, but what happened to the three of you? I'm sure Batman didn't just like, laugh it off and say it was all ok."

Robin's face fell for a second, but then perked up again. "He he yea... so, Batman was kinda reeeeeeeally pissed off, and once he found us, started flipping out at us. Of course, we kept remembering what he looked like glued to the wall, and couldn't stop laughing. Whenever we did, one of us would nudge the others, and we'd all start cracking up agian. Didn't help that he still had glue all over him. But yea, we did get punished. All three of us were stuck with monitor duty for a week each. Plus extra training, extra early. Oh, and we had to wash GA and Batman's planes and cars and whatever. But it was worth it."

"Hahahaha! Oh my god, that would have been SO epic to watch! Didn't you say the watchtower's security cam got it on film?" Asked Tim.

"It did, but Batman had to ruin all our fun. He destroyed the tape. But Wonder Woman did get a picture on her cell when he wasn't looking. Heh. Bet she still uses that as blackmail today..." seeing the shocked look on Bruce's face, he smirked. "Or maybe he doesn't even know about it."

"Yea-" Whatever Bruce was about to say was cut off by the alarm. The titans all raced over to the monitor, watching Robin frantically type. Bruce, Tim and Damian got up, and watched Robin. The boy wonder looked at the screen in disbelief. He curled his hand into a fist, and slammed it down on the keys, uttering a single word.

"Slade."


	4. memories of demons past

**Thank you to all reviewers! I'd take time to write a response to each of you, but to be honest/blunt- ima lazy person. so if you reviewed, thanks!

Robin glared at the screen, planning dozens of ways to capture the man in his mind. He was only brought back to reality when Damian asked, "Uh... who's Slade?"

"Criminal mastermind."

"Who are you comparing him to? Villains here or in Gotham? I mean, no offense, but the other villains here are kinda lame."

"Think of an evil, smarter, psychotic version of Batman on steroid's with an army of thousands of robots, set on making everyones lives miserable."

"Oh. Well, that's not good." Robin pounded his fist on the desk.

"Fan out. Find him. Bring him down." Robin started to storm out of the room, when his path was blocked by Cyborg and Beastboy. "Oh, great. This again..." he mumbled, seeing the determined looks on their faces.

"Um... dude? Maybe you should like, stay here and cordinate the search... or somthing?" The changeling suggested, scratching the back of his neck.

"Beastboy, we've gone through this before. I can handle it."

"You said that once before, and got kidnapped," Raven pointed out.

"Ok, so one bad time. But when Terra worked with him I didn't go all crazy."

"Because you were more pissed off at Terra. We all were." Cyborg mentioned.

"Still, I can handle it! Come on, last time we saw him, I stinking teamed up with him!"

"Wait, what?" asked Raven.

"He showed me where find you and helped me get to you when your uh, dad took over the world."

"Are you forgetting the incident with the dust? Seriously man, you almost got yourself killed!"

"Only because the dust had been laced with stuff to make me hallucinate!"

"QUIET!" Raven shouted, to everyones surprise. Everyone complied. "Listen, the longer we stand here bickering, the more likely it is that Slade will get away. If anyone goes crazy, we'll send them home. For now, we just have to trust each other! Now come on!" Everyone, being too shocked to fight back, ran out the door. Only Robin hung back. He turned to Bruce.

"Remember, the Batman stayed in Gotham, got it?"

"Fine. Now who is Slade?"

Robin's expression turned bitter. "Long story, but I made a promise. Can't tell you, for now anyway."

"And why didn't your friends want you to come on this mission? You're the leader, aren't you? And what about the hallucinations? Kidnapping?"

"Well, but... just, long story, I'll explain later. Basically I had an unhealthy obsession trying to catch him, and instead he caught me. I gotta go-"

"No. Your friends are right, you should stay home."

"No! You aren't in charge of me! I can handle it!" The boy wonder stormed out the door, in a worse mood than before, mumbling to himself.

"Stay at home, who does he think he is? He's not in charge! I'm the leader here! He's a visitor! He has no right to boss me around!" He stormed over to his R-cycle, and zoomed off with the rest of the titans.

Miles away, a man laughed a bitter laugh. "Robin, Robin, Robin. So your family has come for a visit, hmm? It's a shame you won't be seeing them for very much longer..."

The titans made their way over to a warehouse on the other side of town, where they had traced the signal from. Robin winced, remembering the place. It was the same place where he had lived for two weeks, as Slade's apprentice. He hated the place. He hated the man. He hated himself for it. Most of all though, he hated the memories.

_"Who knows? Perhaps I'll even become like a father to you."_

_"I already have a father."_

_"Who, the Batman? You really believe he cares about you at all?" Robin stayed silent._

_"Answer me! Do you think he cares?"_

_In a low, even tone, he answered, "Yes." The madman chuckled, amused by the answer given._

_"You really think he cares? If he cares so much, then when is the last time you spoke to him?" He started pacing. "A week? A month? Or was it ever since you ran away from home...?"_

_Robin glared at the man from beneath his mask. "We've lost touch."_

_"Have you now? Or have you just not wanted to confront him? You're scared you'll disappoint him, aren't you?"_

_"What are you, a therapist?" Robin shot back, loosing control of his anger._

_"No, I'm not. I'm a mercenary, to let you know."_

_"Your parents must be so proud to have a murderer as a son." Robin spat, an edge coming into his voice._

_"You'd better watch that tone young man," warned Slade, reminding his apprentice of the button in his hand, the same one that determined whether or not his friends would live. In an ammused tone, he asked, "Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?"_

_Robin snapped. He hated when people, criminals especially, brought up his parents. He hated the reminder that what he was doing as a hero was only done because his parents were murdered... and that it was his fault. He turned and attempted to punch Slade in the face, but of course, Slade caught his fist, and twisted it around so his arm was now around Robin's throat. He laughed, causing chills to run up and down Robin's spine._

_"Don't bother trying to hit me again. You and your former mentor fight so much alike, that you are completely predictable. And by the way, how does it feel, being responsible for your own parents deaths?"_

_"You don't know anything about them!"_

_"Oh, but I do... Mr. Grayson." He spun Robin around, and ripped the mask off the poor boys face. _

_"No..." he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "No... this isn't happening... I'm not... No, this isn't happening, and that isn't my name!"_

_"Look at me when I'm speaking to you, Richard!" Slade ignored Robin's weak denial. He forced Robin to look at him, and pried his eyes open. Tearful blue eyes now glared at the masked man._

Robin shuddered, remembering that day. Remembering the moment his mask, his identity, had been torn from him. It was a few days before he had been forced to steal from Wayne Industries. When he stole from the Batman. His father. His only condolence, was that Slade wouldn't tell his identity.

_Robin stood defiantly, arms crossed. "What now, Slade?"_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"What now, what more can you take away from me, to get me to stay as your apprentice? My friends believe I'm evil, you've forced me to leave behind all my views on life and it's people, and adapt to yours. You've stolen my identity from me, and I have no family. What more can you take away, to keep me here?"_

_"It's not what I take away, but what I can give."_

_"Sorry, but I'm not a power hungry maniac like you. And I've already trained with the best. You have nothing to give, but your wonderful hospitality," the words dripped with sarcasm._

_"True, I can't force you into wanting power, or control, Richard. That will come soon enough. But, I can give your friends some knowledge. I'm sure they're awfully curious as to who is under the mask you wear... aren't they?"_

_Robin tried not to let his panic show on his face, but it was dificult to do without a mask. He tried to lie. "I've already told them my identity."_

_"Have you now?" Slade shook his head. "Your lying is improving. I almost believed you for a moment there. But you forget. I have cameras placed all over that tower of yours. He walked over to the computers, and pressed a button, going to a conversation the other titans were having._

_"Dude, how are we supposed to find him? Even if he's only working for Slade because of those micro-probey things, we have no way of finding him! I mean, we don't know who he is under the mask, so if he took it off and put on different clothes, we'd have no clue who he is! We don't even know what color his eyes are! I can't track his smell, because of somthing in that metal stuff he's running around wearing, and Raven hasn't been able to sense him!" Slade stopped the clip, and Robin silently cursed Beastboy. _

_"You can't hide anything from me." he turned and faced the poor child once again. "By the way, nice tattoos."_

_"Tattoos? I only have... one... um, I mean, none...wait." He remembered that the night before Slade had given him somthing that rendered him unconcious for many hours, and he had been forced to steal for the madman minutes after he had awaken. "What'd you do?" Robin was horrified to discover on the back of his left palm, was Slade's emblem. "HOW COULD YOU!"_

_Slade laughed, infuriating the boy. "Well, since I found out about your... original tattoo, I figured it proved as a tie to your pathetic days as a hero. It gave you hope, didn't it? The Batman's logo? Really? You probably weren't even old enought to get a tattoo when you got it. Ironic, isn't it? Breaking the law to get a symbol representing your ties to the hero world. I decided to give you a matching tattoo. Now you'll be equaly reminded of your time working with me, in your better days."_

_Robin suddenly started to laugh, both alarming and confusing Slade. "Do inligten me as to what is so ammusing." Robin rolled his neck, and surely enough, there was a stinging pain right below his hair line, where the collar on his cape, and now the colar on his uniform, covered it up._

_"Nothing really, accept for the fact that you got pissed off enough to give me another tattoo. So, how long did you try to remove my old tattoo before you realized it wasn't coming off?"_

_Slade growled at the boys defiance, and threw a punch in his direction. Robin easily dodged. "Oh, and by the way, that was a pretty smart thing to do."_

_"What? Give you a tattoo?"_

_"No, use your real identity as your alter ego, it realy detured any thoughts of your name being Slade."_

_"You don't know what your talking about. And what makes you so sure Slade is my real name? Go on, ammuse me with your childish detective work."_

_"Fine, but once you started bragging, and talking about yourself, you gave it away, DEATHSTROKE." Slade slightly stiffened at the use of his other alter ego, which Robin noticed. _

_"You see, I wasn't the goody two shoes everyone seems to think I was working with Batman. There were some files of Batman's that were off limits, also some of the files in the JL database. I got curious. Both were easy enough to hack into without leaving a trail, considering who I was trained by. I came accross a file titled Deathstroke in the JL said Deathstroke was a mercenary, formerly a millitary soldier named Slade Wilson. You. You volenteered to be tested on with a serum created by the millitary, turning him into a 'supersoldier'. Basicaly did the same thing to you as sterroids, but with a more possitive affect, raising your IQ instead of dropping it. Once you told me you were a mercenary, and that you'd faught Batman, it was easy enough to piece together."_

_"Smart boy." Slade commented. "I suppose you're offering a trade of some sort?"_

_"Sort of. Just remember that if you want to threaten me by saying you'll tell my identity to anyone, I can just as easily tell yours. I'm sure the millitary would love to know what you've been doing with their 'missing' tecnology, and I'm sure you don't want your multi million dolar company to fall. I hear you have quite the competition with Lex Luthor." _

_"But you forget, with your name, others are attached. Even if you tell my identity, I can easily take care of anyone who happens to hear. You are a different story. Don't you think all of Gotham is awfully curious about who the Batman is? I'm sure they'd be very surprised to find out it was their very own White Knight, Bruce Wayne."_

_Robin froze. Slade knowing who he was, was one thing. Knowing who Batman was? Now, Robin couldn't handle that. "I suppose I'll do the noble thing, and honor your request. But if you do tell a soul who I am, you and your father will be out of buisness." The next day, Robin was saved by his friends._

Shaking his head, he shoved aside the memories, and skidded his motorcycle to a stop. They had reached their destination, and ran inside. If only they knew what Slade was planning. Perhaps then, they wouldn't run inside so eagerly...

**oooooh, look! look! its my terrible attempt at a cliffhanger! haha, so, if your lovin this story, please tell me so! if not, tell me why also! hmm... i wonder how you could tell me... surely there isn't somthing so simple to use, like hmm... a giant button... haha :)


	5. the message, loud and clear

Ello! Thanks for all the reviews my people! :) Enjoy!

Warning: psycotic ranting w/ lotsa cursing

As Robin pulled up his R-cycle to the front of the warehouse, the other titans got out of the t-car. "So, what's the plan?" asked Cyborg. "You sure he's here?"

"I'm sure. We're too similar for our own good, as he was sure to point out many, many times. He picked here as a sort of... reminder, I suppose."

"Reminder?" asked Beastboy. "Of wha-Oh. Um..."

"So, are we going for a sneak attack here?" asked Raven in her monotone.

"No point. He keeps tabs on us. I'm sure some form of hidden security has already seen us. He had the entire tower bugged when I was his apprentice."

"Say WHAT?" Shouted Cyborg, before remembering to be quiet. "When were you going to hmm... I don't know, MENTION THIS?"

"There was no point. I disabled all of them. It was easy enough to find where the camera's were placed, from their views on the screen. It's not like he placed the cameras in you guys' rooms or something. Come on, there's no time to waist." They all walked inside the dusty building, and Robin lead them towards the main room. It had been rebuilt, to look as it had before it was destroyed as Robin escaped his apprenticeship. Robin shuddered at the uncanny likeness. "Come on." He was a bit surprised to find that Slade wasn't in the room.

"I was sure he'd be here..." Robin mumbled, deep in thought.

"He was." All eyes turned to Raven. "I can that he's been here recently. There's what I'm assuming is a coded message for you." Everyone looked towards where she was pointed to. On the wall was painted, **A-23; 18-10-7**. It was a crimson red, and looked too much like blood for Robin's taste, especially with his parents' death anniversary only two days away. He knew Slade probably had done that on purpouse. Thoughts aside, he knew exactly what Slade meant.

"It's a room number." He explained, starting to dread going to that particular room.

"For what room? The only room I've seen is this one. Before that is just a long hallway."

"He disguised the doors to blend into the walls. That way if you snuck in here, you wouldn't be able to find me. There's actually quite a few rooms in that hallway."

"So, what room is A-23?" asked Beastboy, curious.

Robin's heart fluttered in his chest, not wanting to go there. Finaly, he spoke up. "My room."

"Robin. Are you sure you wish to go back into your old room?" asked a very concerned Starfire. "It could bring back many unwanted memories, and-"

"Starfire, thanks for the concern. But just knowing Slade is involved in any of this brings back memories. And any memories of him are unwanted ones." His tone changed to a darker one, and he silently plodded through the hallway, occasionally tapping it, while putting his ear up to it.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

"Shhhhh!" He tapped on a particular section, and a hollow sound erupted. He took off his glove and placed his right palm against the door, and nothing happened. Then he remembered. After he had gotten his... tattoo, Slade had changed the door. He had to use his right handprint to open the door. He cursed under his breath in anther tounge.

"Uh, Robin?" He looked up. "What are you doing?"

"It's activated by my handprint. I uh, must've used the wrong hand." He started pulling the other glove off. He was glad that he put consealer over the tattoo every day, so he wouldn't have to look at it. He wasn't able to get it off on his own, and was too ashamed to ask Batman for help. So there it stayed. He nervously put his other hand on the invisible scanner. The door opened. He inhaled in shock, seeing the messages on the wall.

"La naiba că nenorocit!" he shouted, looking around. The others walked in behind him, somewhat worried. Not only about being in Robin's room as an apprentice, but also, seeing the affects of whatever was in there.

"Uh, Robin, man? You okay." Robin slowly nodded, looking around on the walls. Cyborg could clearly tell he wasn't. "Um... okay. What is it you just said?"

"Yea, I didn't know you knew french, Dude!"

"Taci! Shut up! It's not french, Beastboy, it's Romanian!"

"Is that what's on the walls?" Raven asked. He glared at the walls, nodding.

"So, what's it say?" asked Beastboy. He hated not knowing what was going on. He tried to pronounce the words. "kirk see-you-that?"

"Circ ciudat." Robin corrected. "It's an insult."

"What's it say though?"

"Does it matter?" Robin said a bit defensively. He had quickly read a few of the mesages on the other walls, and knew it'd be VERY bad if he read some of them out loud.

"You gotta tell us though, Rob. He coulda left some kind of a subliminal message."

"Oh, I get the message, loud and clear," he said, fists shaking in rage.

"Please, just tell us Robin. We would not think of you degradingly if you told us what these messages mean." Begged Starfire.

"Yea, man. Besides, I can always scan these and find out what they mean online. Of course, if we do that, it'll take longer, and we might not catch Slade."

"Do we ever?" he said, bitterly. He turned to the walls. "That one," he began, pointing to the one Beastboy tried to read, "Circ ciudat. It mean's circus freak." He seemed a bit deflated after saying that, and turned to the next message.

"Wait, Circus Freak? Who was in the circus?" Beastboy asked, looking around. Robin started panicking, when Raven interupted his train of thoughts.

"He could of meant any of us. I mean, Robin's an acrobat, and the rest of us aren't exactly normal. Any of us could pass as a sideshow performer. What do the rest of them say?"

"This one says, 'Este o ruşine că nu aţi staţi ca ucenicul meu. Ai putea avea toată puterea ai putea dori, dar în loc de mine, aţi ales prietenii patetic. Poate ca mintea ta se va schimba, în condiţiile dreapta'. It means... It's a shame you didn't stay as my apprentice. You could have all the power you could want, yet instead of me, you chose your... pathetic friends. Maybe you will change your mind, under the right circumstances." he snorted. "Yea, like that's gonna happen."

"So, what do the other two say?" Asked Raven.

"This one asks," he looked closer at the words, and gasped.

"What?" Growling, Robin glared at the wall.

"It's another personal jab, directed towards me. Salut-o pe părinţii tăi pentru mine, da, Robin? Say hello to your parents for me, will you, Robin?"

"Parents? Like, Batman?" Robin glared at the teen.

"What about the last one," asked Cyborg.

"Yea? Hey, wait a second- how come my name's on there? And Terra's?" Robin inhaled sharply, wishing he was anywhere here but now.

"Um... well... this one is... pretty bad..."

"Come on man, it can't be that bad..."

"Oh, it can."

"Dude, I can handle whatever it is."

Slowly, Robin read, "Beastboy, m-am gândit eu ar trebui sa stii, ca fata pe care crede că se Terra a fost chiar ea. O încarnare a ei, care urmează să fie precisă. M-am gandit ca ar fi frumos de mine sa stii ... amintiţi-vă că explozia de autobuz din cedarea motorului? Amintiţi-vă cum s-au doisprezece decese? Ei bine ..." He had a sad look on his face as he read it.

"Okay... dude, we can't understand Romanian. What does it mean?" Beastboy was starting to worry now.

"It... says... Beastboy, I just thought I should let you know, that the girl you believed to be Terra was really her. An incarnation of her, to be precise. I just thought It would be nice of me to let you know... remember that bus explosion from the engine failure? Remember how there were twelve... deaths? Well..." Beastboy's eyes widened in realization.

"Terra...

"Beastboy, she wasn't herself. Not the Terra you knew. Not the one... you fell in love with," Raven said gently. "I know you cared for her, a lot. But like Slade said, she was an incarnation of Terra. Her memories were repressed. It wasn't really her. Just her body. Her immage."

"I know. But still..." All was silent. Cyborg uncomfortably cleared his throat, and reminded them of their original purpouse.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude here, while you're mornin for Terra and all, but don't we have a job to do?" asked Cyborg, and Robin nodded in agreement.

"We've gotta stop Slade, no matter how much it hurts Beastboy. Or else, Slade's just going to keep hurting you, hurting all of us." Beastboy nodded.

"What does the last one say?" Asked Raven, noticing another one in the corner. Robin turned to look. He started slowly reading, deciding not to read the romanian out loud.

"I've found the perfect apprentice, unless you'd like to switch spots with her. If you're wondering who it is, who was missing at your reunion? I think..." Robin's voice died out, as he skimmed through the rest of the text, turning more frantic looking with every word.

"Wait, what reunion? Did you go and meet Batman or something?"

"...sorta. But...?" Suddenly, his eyes widened, as he understood. "No... no, no, no, no..." His face turned from freaked, to pissed in a matter of moments. "La naiba!" he screamed, as he punched the wall. A big hole now stood where wall once was. "La naiba... damn it! Damn him! Damn this whole god damned fuckin place! Of all the people, he just had to go messing with her... that little! Ugh!"

"Um... Robin?" Starfire cut into his ranting, but he ignored her, as he continued pacing.

"Taci! Hold on, I need to call someone. Make sure everythings okay..." He pulled out not his titans communicator, but his other one. The Batwave. "Spoiler? Steff? You there?"

"Yea yea, what do you want? You keep forgetting the time difference..." She mumbled, evident that she had been woken up.

"You guys are three hours ahead of us! It's like, four in the afternoon there, isn't it?"

"So? I was on patrol real late last night... went out at like, nine, cause Bane was out... took forever to get him by myself... didn't get back in till like, seven this morning..."

"Then I'll be quick. No one's tried to come after you?"

"Anyone unusual? No. Just the usual Gotham scum."

"Good. You seen Cass lately?"

"Yea, she's been around. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Just one more person, then you can sleep. You seen Babs, er, Batgirl, or Oracle, or, whatever she's calling herself recently?"

"Um... your girlfriend? No. She's been on vacation for a while. Went visiting people 'bout a month ago..."

"She's not my girlfriend! We dated like, what, eight years ago? But... a month? You haven't hear from her at all?"

"Nope. Well, her dad said she was... 'posed to be back by now... that she called 'n said she was gonna stay longer or somethin'... why?"

"Damn... that's what I thought. Thanks Spoiler. I'm gonna hang up now before I go all psycho."

"Psycho?" She was suddenly wide awake, hearing how upset Robin was. "Robin, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later. I gotta go!"

"But-" he hung up, and the confused titans just watched him, as he paced around.

"Oh, so it wasnt' enought to just mess with me, was it Slade? Huh?" he knocked over a table. "No, then you had to mess with my friends, blackmail me, and trick Terra!" He smashed a mirror. "Oh no, that wasn't enough. Then you had to go fucking help Trigon take over the whole god damned world, just to get whatever the hell you wanted!" He flipped over the bed. "Then you go and mess with Beastboy when he saw that girl, but was that enough? Was screwing with our minds enough? Of course not!" He punched the wall again, then threw the drawers out of the dresser. "No, you just had to make it that much more god damned personal!" He clutched his hair in exasperation.

"Messing with me is one thing. Messing with my _friends_, is another! But to go and mess with another god damned _hero_? One who actually _has_ a life outside of crime? One who's payed her dues? Had her fare share of fuckin' tragedy? Someone in my god damned _family_? **That **is taking it a little too far! I've thought Slade's crossed the line before, but this... this is just pushing it! Snapping the line! A fucking line that **should not** be crossed!"

"Um, Robin-"

"And was it enough when he forced me into apprenticeship? Of course not! He had to go trick Terra too! Make her think there was no other way! And after she betrayed him, he just couldn't stay dead! No! That would be too... to _normal_ for him or something! And now for his third apprentice, could he take one of his own kids? Try and convert one of them? Of course not!"

"Wait, _kids_?"

"And could he leave us alone? Go to Metropolis or Smallville or somewhere else, try and convert Supergirl so she can kick his ass? Of course not! He has too much fun, driving _us_ crazy! And messing with _her_ of all people... wasn't her mother being... wasn't the _Joker_ enough? He has no god damned boundaries!"

"ROBIN!" Robin jumped, shocked out of his ranting.

"What," he snapped.

"Before you start up your psycho rant again, coulja tell us what you're ranting about dude?" Robin glared at him.

"Taci, Beastboy! Now is NOT the time to be joking! We have a crisis!"

"A crisis?"

"Yes a crisis!"

"Well Robin, couldja get that spikey head of yours working for a sec? We don't speak Romanian!"

"Ei bine, desigur, nu vorbesc româneşte! De ce nu poate fi nimic doar simple pentru o dată! Lasă-i figura lucrurile, în loc de Slade doar încurcaţi cu noi mai mult! El ştie că numai eu vorbesc limba română, astfel încât acesta este modul în care el devine unele răzbunare dracului? Ieftine împuşcat!"

"Robin!" Raven was literally shaking him. "What in the name of Azar is going on?" This, is when Robin broke down. He slumped down to the floor, head in his hands, the epitome of defeat.

"That... that _bastard... _he kidnapped my best friend, my sister, babs... he kidnapped Oracle!"


	6. traffic, accusiations, and filling in

"Oracle? Who's Oracle?"

"The first Batgirl." Robin explained, running down the hallway. "She's become a computer expert and information broker. She provides intelligence and computer hacking services to the Bat-family, as well as the Justice League, and some other heroes, as well as... others. We've know each other for years."

"How come she's not Batgirl anymore? I'd rather kick but than do research," asked Beastboy, who was huffing and puffing behind the boy wonder, trying to keep up. This is when Robin dead stopped, causing the rest of the titans to skid to a stop, Beastboy ramming into an annoyed Cyborg.

"Did you really have to remind me?"

"Remind you of what?" Suddenly, the annoying buzzing of Robin's communicator began echoing around the hall.

"Hold on." He flipped his communicator open. "Oh. It's you."

"What's going on? Spoiler called, said you asked her some things and started freaking out."

"I have the right to freak right about now, Bats!" he shouted. Everyone was alert now, realizing who was on the other side of the line.

"Mind telling me why?"

"That bastard kidnapped Babs!"

"Language! What do you mean, kidnapped?"

"I mean, he's taken her against her will, and is holding her hostage!"

"What does he want?"

"Me. In exchange for her."

"SAY WHAT?" shouted Cyborg. "You never mentioned this part to us!"

"Go back to the tower."

"What! Batman, you can't just-"

"If he wants you, then stay home. The titans can stop him and save her without you."

"No! No way! This is Babs were talking about! And you don't know the full of it!"

"Well, what don't I know?"

"Uh, number one, he kidnapped her in civilian!"

"You mean?"

"Yea. He knows _everything_."

"How?"

"Uh, it kinda helps that he flat out ripped the mask off my face, after calling me by my real name!"

"You should be more careful about keeping your identity a secret."

"Are you kidding me? You know when the last time I used my civilian identity was? When I lived in Gotham!"

"That long?"

"Yea. Just, I don't know. We'll figure this out."

"I can help."

"No, you can't. You are in Gotham on the other side of the country, _remember_? Besides, you find out anything, and we're all doomed!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You think he hasn't told anyone becuase he's being nice? I had to make a stinking deal with him!"

"What kind of deal was that, exactly?" asked Cyborg, suspicion flags rising to the top of the suspicion flagpole.

"Yea! You should know better than to make deals with psychopaths. Hasn't living in Gotham taught you that?"

"Taci, Batman! I just made a deal, that he'd keep my identity, your identity, and everyone else's identities from Gotham and Metropolis a secret, if didn't tell you or the titans who he was, or who his kids are."

"KIDS? HE HAS KIDS?"

"Crap."

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Robin." Slade's voice echoed over a loudspeaker, though the sound reverberated throughout the small area, making it hard to find the source.

"Robin, is he there? Robin!" The boy wonder hung up his communicator.

"What do you want, Slade?"

"You read my note, didn't you? I'd like you to become my apprentice again. You were so much easier to control than Terra, and had so much more potential. But for now, I heard your slip up. It's only fair that I produce a slip up or two, to be fair. Like, I could mention that Batman is your foster father, and that all the other Robin's, with the exception of the girl, are your half brothers. Well, they would be if Batman bothered to adopt you..." Robin's fists were clenched and shaking, a sure sign that he was trying hard not to go on another psycotic rampage, or give Slade a reaction.

"And my my, I heard everything. You have quite the vocabulary..."

"Taci nenorocit!" (shut up bastard!)

"You'll watch your tounge!"

"Make me."

"That wasn't a request, that was an order. And if you don't follow it, you can say goodbye to your precious friend." Robin just folded his arms, but said nothing.

"Good boy. Now, as your master-" this comment proved to be too much for the boy wonder, who, after locating the source of the speaker, chucked a birdarang at it, successfully shutting up Slade.

"He likes the sound of his voice a little too much, don't you think?" he said, shrugging off the odd looks the others threw at him. "Come on, lets go back to the tower, figure everything out." The titans followed quickly behind him, knowing if they took too long, he'd ditch them and his original plan, and look for Slade himself. He _was_ rather impatient. Robin reached the tower within a matter of minutes, swerving through traffic and going much faster than the speed limit. The titans though, stayed within the speed limit, the car being too big to swerve all over.

"That," said Cyborg, pointing at Robin's driving, "is why I don't let him drive this car." he turned on his comm. link. "Hey, Rob. Do you even have a licence?"

"Yea."

"Mind showin me some proof? I know you're in a hurry, but you're driving like a maniac!"

"Can't show you proof. It's got my real name on it. And I don't care if I'm driving crazy. I'm not causing any accidents now, am I?"

"Well, no. Just ticking off a bunch of drivers... but, how come you can't tell us your real name?"

"Because... didn't we already go over this?"

"Well yea, but... why can't you take the mask off?"

"It'd be too easy to figure out who I am, with the tecnology the world has. Besides, I haven't taken it off in over five years. Why start now?"

"But, why not just your first name?"

"Will you just shut up? My best friend, who I've known for ten years, was kidnapped by my worst enemy! Not in the mood! Just drop it!" he then turned off his communicator.

"Aww crap. Now he's pissed off at me."

"Was that really nececary?" asked Raven. "We don't want him mad at us. If he thinks we don't trust him, he won't trust us. And if he doesn't trust us, we could be dealing with the whole apprentice thing a third time around."

"We already are, aren't we?" pointed out Beastboy. "Didn't Robin say Slade wanted him to trade himself for this Oracle chick? Wouldn't that mean that she's being forced into the apprenticeship too, if he doesn't listen to Slade?"

"Well, maybe not. She could just be a hostage. Slade knows Robin's identity. For all we know, Oracle could be his relative or something."

"But that wouldn't make sense." pointed out Cyborg. "Robin said they've only known each other for nine years."

"Perhaps it is... something else," voiced Starfire. "Though Robin tried to distance himself from the rest of us during the begining of working together, he cared about all of us very much. he worked for Slade, to keep him from killing us. We had only know Robin for a year then. Imagine how much he cares for this Oracle, if he's known her for ten. If she is part of this 'Batclan' as Robin calls it, perhaps she is... _like _a sister to him. I know I'd do anything to save my little brother or even my sister, even though she is evil."

"Perhaps." mused Raven. "Though, I wouldn't know what it'd be like, what I'd do for a sibling, as I have none. One half demon in the family was enough. What about you two?"

"I'm an only child," voiced Beastboy.

"Same. Do you think Rob has or had any full siblings? I mean, Slade just told us that Batman's his foster dad, and that the other Robin's would be his half brothers if the Bat ever adopted him. He had to have a family before the Bat. Say, when do you think Robin's birthday is anyway? Slade made it sound like Robin already turned eighteen or something, and that's why the Bat didn't adopt him. I mean, I turned nineteen a few months ago, and he said that the Batgirl of the time, Oracle was four years older than him, so..."

"That. Is a mystery we probably won't solve."

"Hey, wana know what'd be weird?" asked Beastboy.

"What?"

"If it was like, his birthday today. Didn't Mr. Wayne say it was his son Richard's birthday today? That'd be cool, since the two of them were such good friends, if they had the same birthday..."

"I doubt it would be today, Beastboy. I mean, Mr. Brood-ey doesn't seem like the type to be born in the Spring. I'd think he'd be more of a Winter person," Cyborg thought aloud.

"Wait, is not today the first day of Spring?"

"Yea, it is Star, why?"

"I believe Beastboy may be correct." she continued. Everyone sent her inquisitive looks. "Is not a person born on the first day of Spring called a robin?" Everyone just sat there, mouths gaping. She had a point.

"That would explain the name, too..." mused Raven.

"Wait, so I was right?" asked an excited Beastboy.

"Possibley. We can't be completely sure, not until we ask him. Though, he has avoided the question for quite a few years..."

"Well, we're almost at the tower. We can ask him then."

Robin, who had reached the tower already, walked inside, and went straight to the living room. It was awfully quiet, which didn't ease his nerves. He walked in, asking, "Okay, who's alive and who's dead or unconcious?"

"We didn't kill each other, jez!" said Tim, popping his head up from the other side of the couch. "We found a... different way to kill each other, without getting in trouble. He motioned towards the game they were playing. It was the most violent game Beastboy and Cyborg owned, which they'd left lying around.

"Nice. Where's Bruce?" he asked, sitting down next to him. He started writing on a piece of paper, presumably starting a plan, then crossing things out, and rewriting different parts.

"He went out. Said it was for work or something." said Damian. "Wana play winner?"

"Not right now, are you crazy!" he said getting up. The paper, which his hand had hit, fell to the floor, directly in front if Tim.

"Dude, chill! Where are the other titans, and why are you so skitsy?"

"They're coming. I'm guessing he didn't tell you exactly _what_ that buisness was?"

"No. Why?" asked Tim, shutting off the game.

"Hey!"

"Slade kidnapped Barbara!"

"Seriously?" he asked eyes widening.

"Yea. Bruce knows. He better not be nosing around in this case though, he's supposed to be in Gotham. He shows up as the Bat here, there's gonna be a lot of explaining to do."

"Wait, how'd he kidnap Barbara?" asked Damian. "She's been on vacation, and even if she was here she'd be in the batcave, which is at dad's house, which means-"

"He knows _everything_. He kidnapped her in civilian."

"Oh... that's not good. Can we help with the case?"

"Sorry Timmy. I know you're smart, but Slade, like you Damian, is a trained mercenary. Though, he's got much more experience."

"More experience? I've been trained by my mom and the League of Assasins ever since I was a baby! Plus the training from Bruce!"

"I know, trust me, I know. Slade doesn't use guns though. He uses blunt force. And no offence, but he runs around in a metal suit. While he could shatter your bones with a kick, I doubt your weapons would do anything to him."

"Well maybe not any weapons to stun him, but-"

"No, Damian. You can't shoot him. One, the bullet would probably bounce off his suit and hit you, and two, he's like Batman. He doesn't stay dead. I mean, he survived falling into a pit of lava. Granite, he had the incarnation of all evil on his side, but still... Anyway, Slade'll mess with both of your heads. He's manipulative, and he can find your weaknesses faster than the Joker can make you go crazy. Like a cross between Hugo Strange and Bane. He knows how to hurt you. Why do you think he kidnapped Babs? He wants me to become his apprentice again, in exchange for her safety."

"Wait, become his apprentice _again_?"

"Long story. Look, I'll fill you guys in on the plan later."

"Okay." Robin went down to the garage, where the titans were just now pulling in.

"Took you guys long enough."

"Sorry, but I was trying to keep my licence," said Cyborg. "So, you got a plan?"

"Of course."

*okay, so this is a longish filler chappy, but pay attention to the details in this chapter and following ones! There's a hidden mystery! Which makes no sense now, but it will soon! More reviews = faster updates!


	7. plans

"So, what's the plan, Robin?" asked Cyborg as they all sat in the conference room. He cracked his metal knuckles in anticipation.

"Okay, so Slade's going to assume that I'm going to want to charge in head first and save Oracle, right?"

"Right. And you do," inferred Raven.

"Well... yea. But since he'll be expecting that, we'll do something different. See, he always expects hand to hand combat."

"Obviously, since he always ends up fighting you," exclaimed Beastboy, rolling his eyes.

"Well, yea. But he doesn't have much experience fighting any of you."

"What are you saying?" asked Raven, starting to understand the plan.

"I'm saying, that while he's going to be expecting to fight me, we'll surprise him, and you all will ambush him. It'll be like you guys made me stay home or something. While you guys are fighting him, I'll find Oracle and get her out of there."

"And what do we do when Slade gets away?"

"He won't." Everyone sent him puzzled looks.

"Dude, he always gets away."

"As much as I hate to admit it, it's my fault. He's a better fighter than me, so he always defeats me. But you all saw the damage Raven did to him, when we found out about the prophesy." Everyone turned to Raven, who just shrugged.

"I wasn't in a good mood."

"Anyway, if Raven can do that much damage to him on her own, imagine what all four of you could do." They thought about it, and realized what Robin said was true. "See, when him and I fight, he always has the upper hand. More skill, along with the fact that we're always playing on his terms. But if you guys are fighting him,"

"We'll have the upper hand," finished Cyborg. " But what makes you so sure we can stop him?"

"Yea, dude! I mean, he knows how we fight too. How's this gonna be any different? No matter what we do, we never catch him!"

"Think of it this way, Beastboy." Robin started pacing back and forth. "You saw how Raven beat the crap out of him. You destroyed one of his robot clones by yourself, and they're programed to fight just like him. Plus, you and Cyborg and Starfire took on Trigon for a good couple days, and lived for goodness sakes! That's gotta be saying something! If you all can have a direct target without me in the way..."

"You really think this'll work?" asked Cyborg, still a bit unsure.

"Positive."

"Well alright then. So, who's doin' what?"

"That's up to you. You're in charge of the ambush. I'll follow behind you guys unseen, and grab Oracle."

"You two will join the fight afterwords if we haven't gotten Slade, right?" Robin began to grow nervous again, realizing he hadn't told his friends everything. He decided to avoid the full truth.

"Well, who knows what Slade's done to her. She could be drugged, or need medical attention or something. If she's able to fight, we'll come. But I doubt you'll need us."

"Okay then. Come on!" Robin watched as three of his friends left the room. Raven stayed behind.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" the empath asked, eyeing the boy wearily.

"Possitive. The plan clear?"

"Crystal," she said, a rare smile on her lips. "Very sneaky of you. And you know he won't be expecting this because...?"

"Because he thinks I'm impatient and compulsive."

"Good point." she looked down, and noticed he was writing something down. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the note.

"Oh, just a note saying what's going on, in case Tim or Damian come looking for us. I promised to fill them in."

"They into all this hero stuff?" she asked him, eyebrow raised. Robin smiled to himself, as the empath walked out of the room.

"Something like that..."

Minutes after four of the five titans had left, Robin got on his motorcycle to follow them. Elsewhere in the tower, Tim went into the conference room, and read the note. A smile abruptly adorned his face, as he raced to show the note to his half brother Damian.

"Oh I like this plan..." the boy said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Hard to comprehend that Dick was the one who thought of it. Sounds like something my mom or grandfather would think of."

"Eh, well your grandpa did throw him in the Lazarus pits a few times..." Tim reminded with a shrug.

"Well, are we just gonna sit around here while they have all the fun?" asked Damian, standing up.

"Of course not! Come on!" and they two ran out of the room. Robin smiled, hearing his two brothers. He knew his plan would work.

*Yea, it's a shorter chapter, and some parts are kinda lame and others confusing, but it'll all make sense soon! Lotsa action and drama coming up next chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)


	8. Slade's new Apprentice

"Teen titans, go!" shouted Cyborg, as the titans leapt into battle. They all ran towards Slade, but were immediately blocked by a bunch of robots. "Great." As they worked their way through the swarms, they realized Slade wasn't alone.

"Dude! Who the heck is that?" asked Beastboy, as he pointed to the girl. She was sitting by Slade's side, and wearing a costume similar to Terra's. Her red hair spilled over her face, which held an evil smile.

"Meet my new apprentice, titans."

"No..." siad Robin, shaking his head. He had just dropped down from the rafters, where he had been hiding.

"Robin! What about the pla-?"

"What did you do to her!" Shouted Robin, moving towards Slade, who made no motion to stop him. "Blackmail her? Or promise her things you won't deliver?"

"Isn't it obvious, Robin?" she asked. "So, what do you think?" His jaw dropped, as she stood up.

"No..."

"Dude! Who the heck is this? And what's going on? I am so confused!"

"Join the club," mumbled Raven.

"But... but you're... but the Joker..."

"So Batman didn't have the technology to save me. He did." Robin noticed Slade had also stood.

"He didn't fix you, he's controling you! The same way he controlled Terra, he's controling you. Through the suit! That's how you're standing."

"You think I care?" she asked with a smirk.

"No... this isn't you! Raven! Check her for mind control!"

"I already have, Robin. The only thing controling her is the suit. And that's only phisically."

"Robin, please. Who is this girl? Do you know her?"

"Of course he knows me, silly. We dated!"

"Say what?" shouted Cyborg. "Robin, who the hell is she?"

"..."

"Robin?"

"..."

"Robin, who is she?"

"Oracle."

The girl smirked, and walked foreward. "I really don't see why this is coming to such shock to you, Robin. Really, I was on this course from the start. Before you came around, my best friend was Pam Isley. Got in trouble with her all the time, until she became Poison Ivy. That's what sent me on my vigilantee kick. Still breaking the law, but doing some good. Then you came...

"You know, I've always been friends with you. At first we disagreed, but then we got along perfectly. The day you asked me out was one of the best in my life. But then, you left.

"No explination, just a phone call from Batman. Batgirl, is Robin there? No, he's not. Why? And then he hangs up." She kept walking foreward, until she was nose to nose with the boy wonder. "I searched with Batman for weeks. Worried sick about you. Did the Joker kidnap you again? Did twoface kill you?... did Tony Zucco figure everything out, find out that Robin was his material wittness and come to finish what he started?"

Robin shook his head, not believing what was coming from her mouth. This wasn't the Oracle, the Batgirl, the Babs he knew. "Maybe it's for the best that I didn't know. That you had left, without a trace, and found new friends. Replaced me. Forgot about me. Batman didn't tell me where you had run off to until months later. But by then, it was too late."

"And that's when I realized. You didn't love me. You never cared. Ever!" She sent a punch flying at his face, which he dodged, backing up. "You lied to me! You said there were no secrets! You said you'd tell me everything! And I promised to do the same!"

"I told you everything, honest! I did! There were never any secrests with you, ever! It's just..."

"It's just you didn't tell me about the biggest decision you've ever made in your life. Shows how much you really cared." Mockinly, she held her hands to the side and immitated him. "Oh, come on Babs! You know you're my best friend! Always will be! Hmmm... yea, see how that ended up. You left, and found other friends. Better friends. Of course you would." She made another attempt to hit him. "And when I was in the hospital, after the god damned Joker shot me in the spine, did you ever visit? Not even once! Even Jason did, and he's supposed to be flippin dead!"

"Babs, I didn't find out about it until-"

"Don't you Babs me! Only my friends can call me that!"

"Fine, then. Oracle, would you at least let me explain why-"

"No. I already know. It's because you like them better. You picked the silver over the gold. New instead of the old. What ever happened to that god damned rhyme? Make new freinds but KEEP THE OLD. You didn't do that! You totally ditched us back in Gotham!"

"I don't like them better than you, I don't like anyone better than anyone!" Robin shouted, exasperated.

"Well obvously you do. So pick, _Robin_. Them or me."

"Why don't you pick, Babs? Work with a controling psychopath or come join us?" he threw right back, as he continued dodging her attacks.

"Join my enemies? The freaks that are keeping you away from home? No thanks. And also, who are you talking about? A 'controling psychopath.' Are you talking about Slade, or Batman?" That question stopped Robin cold. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure.

"That's what I thought. You never liked Batman anyway, and after all he did to you, what he put you through, you still helped him. That bastard had you out chasing Zucco days after the accident. He said it was all for the best, but was it? He could've just as easily called me to help with Zucco, but instead, he conveniently makes it so simple for you to find the Batcave, and so simple for you to find where he is, and so gosh darn simple, to take down Zucco! All that? It was total psychological breakdown! But you were too young to know.

"And after all that, he just says yes! Lets you join him as a crime fighter! I had to fight him, kicking and screaming almost to get him not to tell my father I was Batgirl! But as soon as it was convenient for him, you come around. Hmm... maybe he planned it all. I bet he worked with Zucco, hired him to kill your-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Robin shouted, at the top of his lungs. "I don't care what you do, I don't care what you say! You're not the same, Babs! Not the same person at all! Not the girl I grew up with! Not the girl I..."

"'Not the girl I' what? Fell in love with? News flash bird brain! Reality sucks! But it can be fixed. Come with me, Robin. Join me, work for Slade! Get back at Batman for all he put you through! We can make up for all the lost time!"

Robin stood there, frozen in time. He felt all eyes on him. Who would he pick? The Titans, or Oracle? He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Babs." That was all he said, and he started walking away. He knew trying to fight Slade right now would do nothing. Slade knew there'd be no fight. And he let them go.

They were just about to leave the room, when a voice called out, "Wait!" Robin spun around, to find Oracle racing toward him, thanks to Slade controling her legs.

"Babs? You change your mind?"

"No. It's just..." She threw her arms around him in a death hug rivaling Starfire's. "Happy birthday." she whispered, and then she walked away, back to Slade's side. The titans followed Robin out the room. He never once looked back.

*sooooooooooo i hope this was worth the insane ammmount of time it took to write! if it wasn't, feel free to flame me and or throw tomatoes at me. If you liked it, well, i'd like to hear that too!


	9. WTF is going on!

Sorry for taking so long! It seems my teachers have forgotten what it was like being a kid, and don't have a problem giving us billions of tests/quizzes/projects/homework assignments. Hope it was worth the wait!

"Dude, what was that all about? One minute she's trying to beat you up, the next she's hugging you wishing you a happy birthday? What gives? And why didn't you tell us it was your birthday?" Robin sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"Just leave it alone, Beastboy." They were back at the tower by now, and the titans were trying to make sense of what had happened. They thought they were going there to _save_ Oracle. Not fight her!

"Leave it alone? Man, you must be crazy in the head or something! After we find out your ex-girlfriend's gone psycho and being controlled by Slade, you want us to just leave it alone?" Robin felt like banging his head against a wall. Not much was going according to plan. And where was Bruce?

Turning his head away from his friends, he noticed a note scribbled in a child's handwriting. Tim's, to be exact. He picked up the note, which said the two were going to go hang out at Bruce's office. At least one part of the plan was going right...

"Look guys," he started, "I don't know what got into Ba-Oracle. I guess the temptation was too much..."

"What temptation, Robin? What could Slade give her?" asked Raven.

"He could give her the ability to walk." Confusion passed by the titans like a giant wave.

"But Robin, did you not tell us that this Oracle was the former Batgirl? Surely she needed the ability to walk if-"

"She could walk, Star. She used to be able to. Until the Joker..." he sat down on the couch with his friends, putting his head in his hands.

"Like Starfire said, she used to be able to walk, run, flip, whatever. She actually had been training for the Olympics since she was around 5 years old. But things changed. It happened while we were fighting the Brotherhood of Evil...

"I couldn't, wouldn't, call her, give her a communicator. I didn't want her getting involved at the time, seeing as I still cared about her. A lot. I guess it wasn't the right choice. If I had gone to Gotham, I would've found out, visited her in the hospital...

"She was walking to the library, where she had a job as head librarian. It was another normal day, accept for one thing: The Joker had broken out of Arkam. She didn't know. Well, all was fine, until the Joker came out of nowhere.

"The Joker held a grudge against her father, because he had helped put Joker in Arkam many, many times. He decided to hurt the man the only way he could: he was going to kill his daughter, Oracle. She turned just in time, saw him, saw the gun. She started to run away, planning on changing into her Batgirl costume, to fight him. She wasn't fast enough, didn't know that she was the one Joker was after. As she was running..." he shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

"That bastard... the Joker... he shot her. Tried to kill her like he'd killed so many others. On the bright side, he missed his target. Didn't hit her heart. On the other hand... he shot her in the spinal cord. She was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. The doctors couldn't do anything about it. She would be paralyzed for life, have to spend the rest of her days in a wheel chair."

"Then how was she walking?" asked Beastboy.

"That's probably what Slade tempted her with. I'll get to that in a minute." Beastboy nodded in response. "She knew she couldn't be Batgirl anymore, but she still wanted to help out. She adopted a new persona, Oracle. She became one of the most important people in the hero community. She worked with the Justice League, Batman, and a bunch of other groups I haven't even heard of. She became an information broker, computer hacker. She was the go to girl. But that all changed.

"I don't know how Slade found her, or if she found him. I don't know anything. But somehow, they met. My guess, is that he told her about the technology he had, the ability he had to give her back the ability to walk. He probably told her that it would come at a small price: working for him. I guess it didn't help that she was mad at me... or that she had a rocky relationship with Batman... and the death of the second Robin she took hard as well. I guess she was right- it was a matter of time before she cracked."

"Well on the bright side, Slade doesn't know your identity!" Beastboy said, trying to look on the bright side. His smile faltered and faded completely seeing the look on Robin's face. "He did, didn't he?" The ensuing silence was enough of an answer.

"How?" was the simple question asked by Starfire. All the titans wondered the same thing, but none had the heart to elaborate. They didn't need to.

"I don't know." Robin said. "I don't know. He just... he just _knew_. He didn't force me to tell him, he didn't torture it out of me... he just _knew_."

"That must be annoying," Raven thought aloud. "He knew everything about you, yet you couldn't find anything out about him." Robin didn't reply. "Or did you?" she accused.

"I'm sorry... I can't tell you."

"Tell us what?" Robin wasn't sure of the answer. He rubbed his wrist while avoiding his gaze. When Barb had kicked it, she hit it pretty hard... it might be broken.

"Let me heal your hand." Raven demanded, noticing right away.

"I don't need healing..."

"Yes, you do. Don't think I didn't catch that, you're hurt. Let me heal you." Robin knew he had no chance against the wrath of Raven. She would heal him, weather he wanted her to or not. Sighing, he pulled off the glove. He didn't notice the concealer he had placed over the tattoo smudging until...

"Robin, what is that on your hand?"

"Wait, what-? Oh, no, that's nothing-, wait, what are you-?" He didn't realizing what was happening until he felt the water from the kitchen sink running over his hand. That's when he realized. That's when they saw.

The tattoo Slade had branded onto him was very, very visible.

**Love? Hate? Idolize? Wish to burn like the Salem Witch Trial-ees? Let me know! flames/gushing are both welcome! :)**


	10. tattoo

Sorry for taking so long! Hope it was worth the wait!

A shocked silence passed through the group like a wave, staring at their stricken leader. He hung his head in shame, both for hiding it in the first place, and for being too weak to stop Slade from putting it on him in the first place.

"Dude... why?" The changeling's small voice startled everyone out of their revenue, but as soon as they processed the words, they turned to their leader for the answers, as they always have.

Robin smiled ruefully, as he raised his head to face them. "He was pissed off. I still wasn't listening. And, he found my other tattoo."

"What tattoo?" asked Beastboy, curiosity evident. Of all the things to learn of his leader... a tattoo? Robin smiled a small smile, and removed his cape so the back of his neck was visible. The titans were amused to find a small bat tattooed to the back of his neck, just under his hairline.

"I got in big trouble when Batman found out about it..." he said, almost fondly of the memory, "He lectured me for days about how I could be compromising my identity -and by extension his- by having 'such a recognisable marking,' even though I pointed out the collar of my cape would hide it when I was patrolling, so nobody would notice it. Really though he was more mad that I got it when I was nine."

"You got a tattoo when you were nine? Mr. Goody-two-shoes nine year old got a tattoo! Dude! How does a nine year old hide a tattoo!" Surprisingly, Robin started laughing.

"Did you really think it was possible to grow up in gotham and _not_ do something bad once in a while? Besides, back then I was a little... over-eager. I had just been officially named Batman's partner, and I wanted to celebrate. Of course, Batman wasn't really one for happy-cheery-good-job-chum, so I got the tattoo, as a symbol. At the time, it was so no matter what happened, it'd always be Batman's partner. Now... it's a reminder of the past." He looked down at his hand, "I suppose this is too."

"Slade tried removing this tattoo, but he couldn't. Special ink of the British variety," Robin said, smirking. Batman still didn't know about that part...

"British...?" asked Raven, confused.

"Batman's British friend tattooed it on me, after I begged him for a couple weeks."

Now, if not before, Starfire was confused. "But Robin, I believed you to not be the type to beg? And who is this British friend? Perhaps a vigilante in England?" Robin muffled his laughter for Starfire's sake, and tried to answer with a straight face.

"A... A vigilante? Uh... no." A brief image of Alfred in the Batsuit flashed through his mind. "He was military and British Intelligence... about thirty years ago. Uh... But the begging? I was nine! I didn't like using logic. Begging was easier, since I just had to walk around pouting."

Seeing the questioning look on Starfire's face, Cyborg added, "Pouting's like the faces Beastboy makes every time he's denied a moped."

"Dude!" As his friends continued playfully arguing, Robin slipped out of the room, having noticed Raven do the same. He caught up with her just before she got to her room.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, voice guarded.

"You seemed upset when you left."

"Well aren't you the world's second greatest detective."

"Raven? Please, if something's wrong, I want to help-"

"Why do you hide from us?" she blurted.

"Huh?"

"Why do you always hide everything? You hid from us when you became Red X. You hid from us that... marking, Slade put on you, you hide your past, your birthday, Azar, you hide even your face. Why?" before he could answer, she added, "And don't give me any of that 'secret identity' bull. I want the truth."

"Well... it's complicated."

"That's life."

"I think it's more of... it's just..."

"Sometime today please."

Raven started to walk into her room when, "I don't want to disapoint him."

"Who?"

"Batman."

"Why?"

Robin sighed. "He's the closest I have to a father. The closest I'll ever have."

"How could you disapoint him by being honest with us?"

"He forbade me from telling anyone my identity. Becuase he doesn't fully trust me, by extention he doesn't trust you guys."

"Do you trust us?"

"Of course!"

"Then what's the problem? If you trust us, that should be good enough for him."

"Nothing's good enough for him."

"Not even you?"

"Why do you think he fired me? I messed up. He doesn't tolerate failure."

"So you think that if you mess up now, or break your promise and tell your identity to us you'd disapoint him."

"Pretty much."

"And the real reason for the tattoos?"

"... sort of unofficial proof that I considered Batman to be my dad. That's why Slade put his own mark on me by force. He... he wanted me to think of him as my father."

"You hide your birthday because...?"

"Because it reminds me of my past, before Batman. I'd rather not relive it."

"Why?"

"Becuase my parents were murdered, Raven! That's why!" He took a shaky breath. "Because two days after my 9th birthday, my parents were murdered. And it was my fault. I couldn't stop it from happening. It was all my fault. If I'd warned them..." They sat in silence for a few moments.

"Why do you hide your eyes?"

"...I'm... afraid. Afraid of what you all might see."

"We wouldn't think of you any differently if we knew who you were."

"Wouldn't you?" More silence. "I'm just... I'm not ready." She nodded in acceptance, content with his answers.

"Now was that so hard?" she asked, a small smile playing her lips.

"No..." he said, returning the jesture.

"We're your friends, Robin. You once told me that I'm not alone. Neither are you." He nodded. "Now, I'd make myself scarse if I was you. If I know our friends, you'll have a surprise party set up by tonight," she said with a smirk.

He just groaned, exasperated, as she closed the door in his face.

**Love? Hate? Wish to worship? Want to protest it? Let me know! flames/gushing are both welcome! :)**


	11. er HAPPY birthday?

Sorry for taking so long! Hope it was worth the wait!

It was three hours later, and Robin was sitting on the couch between Starfire and Beastboy, Cyborg and Raven sitting next to them, respectively. He couldn't help but smile as he looked around at them. Though the day had stunk, the night... it was pretty good. Sure, Bruce totally forgot and had been gone all day, and Damian hadn't even remembered, but he had found a short note from Tim in his room. And now that his friends knew... well, that was just one less secret to keep.

"You know, I still find it funny, dude."

"Find what funny, Beastboy?" asked Starfire. Raven just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever it is, it probably _isn't _funny, especially considering _his _sense of humor." Cyborg smirked at the comment, as did Robin.

"What's funny, Beastboy?"

"That you and your friend... uh, Bruce's kid, Dick? That you two have the same birthday and all." Robin tensed up slightly, but not enough that anyone noticed.

"Oh! Uh, yea, it is kind of a coincidence..." he half mumbled a response.

"And dude, you know what else is weird?" Beastboy continued, as if he'd never been interupted. "It's the first day of Spring!" Robin's eyes widened at the implication, but he kept his expression even.

"So?" asked Raven, half paying attention.

"So, it's Rob's birthday! Isn't someone born on the first day of spring called a Robin?" That's when it clicked for the others.

"Oh! Friend Robin, is that how you have gotten your name? Because of your date of birth?" and that exact question brought on a swarm of memories, welcome and unwanted. He bit his lip, and shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He really didn't like being the center of attention these days...

"Er... yea, partially," he muttered. "My mom called me that when I was younger... said when she saw me up there flying I looked like a... a little Robin..." he said, more to himself than his friends. The atmosphere grew tense once he realized he'd said more than he wanted to. He cleared his throat, "Erm... yea... so, guys, thanks. Really. The party was great. It was nice of you guys to do this last minute, and especially after the day we've all had..."

"Man, that's just another reason why we shoulda had this party," Cyborg said, smiling. As if suddenly realizing something, he asked, "Say, where did the others go? Mr. Wayne and Tim and Damian?"

Cover up... cover up... "Bruce is probably out clubbing or whatever," he said, waving the older guy off. "You know him. Well, you don't, but I'm sure you've read the tabloids before..."

"What about the younger two?" asked Starfire. "When not together they seemed like quite pleasant people!"

How to explain that one... he was saved by Raven though who answered, "Timmothy told me earlier that he and Damian were going to be visiting some friends of theirs in the city. He assured me that Bruce gave his permission, though I wouldn't way that too heavily..." Robin sent her a greatful look, and telepathically she told him, _You REALLY need to explain things to me. If they're going to be sneaking around doing who knows what for the next week..._

_I know, I know! _He sent back. _I'll tell what I can later! But for this plan, you'll have to trust me._

_Whatever this plan of your is FOR anyway... _even through their bond, he could hear the tone she was using. She was NOT happy to be left in the dark. But it needed to be done...

Before anyone could notice how quiet Raven and Robin had suddenly become, the alarms blared to life.

"Dude, not Slade again!" Beastboy shouted, exasperated.

"Do I look like Slade to you?" asked Oracle, red hair framing her face. Robin tensed up, having known that something like this would be coming up eventually.

"Babs..." he asked, cautiously.

"Oh, hey bird boy," she responded fondly with a flirty smile. "Miss me?" Raven noticed that this time, Oracle was sitting in a wheelchair instead of standing up. Did that mean...?

"Babs? Where are you? Are you still...?"

"With Slade? Of course. And no, obviously like any other person, I don't have to stand 24/7. I'm not THAT happy to be moving my legs again."

"Okay then, if you're still with the bad guy, what do you want?" asked Cyborg. What did Slade have up his sleve this time?

"Well, Slade wanted me to tell Robin here that the offer's still open. You can come hang with the big boys and girls if you'd like, Robby," she suggested with a smirk.

"Sorry, but I told you my answer earlier. I'm not working for Slade. None of us are."

Pouting, she said in a mock-hurt voice, "Aww, and I had my hopes up and everything. Btw, FBW," she added on, my offer's still on too, if you want. Remember it? From before you ran away and joined the Titans..." Robin's face flushed red in recognition. The others could only guess at the implications. Noticing the titans' expressions, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, get your tiny little minds out of the gutter! Not like that! Though, Robin, you aren't jail bait anymore today, are you?" she added.

"Babs, if there wasn't any other reason for your little call...?" Robin hinted, "I'll talk to you when you're back on the right side of the law."

"When and if, Robby," she said, smirking. "Although..." she tapped her chin, as if in deep thought. "I do believe Slade asked me to mention the bombs he placed all over the city... nothing important." And with that, the call was disconnected.

"Here we go again..." muttered Cyborg, getting ready to leave. _What is it with all of our birthdays? _He thought to himself. _Raven's a few years back brought on the apakolypse, and now Robin's is bringing Bruce Wayne and some crazy ex-hero chick from Gotham... I can't immagine what BB's birthday will cause... _With that thought, he phisically stopped and shuddered. He wouldn't even think about that.

*Short and vanilla plain I know, but I promise things'll spice up soon. The plot bunnies have gone on vacation. Maybe if you're all nice and review, I'll even be nice and let y'all know what Tim and Damian have been up to... *smiles an E-Vile smile* lolz


	12. bombs away

Sorry for taking so long! I know excuses are pointless and annoying, so I won't whine about how I am soooo busy and have SUCH a demanding social life. Pshh as if.

"Well this is boring," announced Beastboy, trodding down the street. He was doing another routine check in with the others. BO-RING. No signs of any bombs anywhere!

"We can't stop searching," Robin replied, "whether or not this is a trick we have to be certain. If not, thousands of people could be hurt. Killed. I _won't _let that happen. Not now. Not Babs."

"Robin, if something happens it is not your-" Starfire started, but was cut off by a sharp click. "-fault." Robin had disconected.

"Great. Just what we need. Boy wonder MIA," Raven droned. "And I can't believe I'm saying this, but what if Beastboy's right? What if this is just another elaborate scheme to keep us busy? Sepearate us? Slade obviously still wants Robin to join him. And with Oracle... who knows what Robin will do. He seems to care about her much more than let on."

"HELLOOO? EX-GIRLFRIEND RING ANY BELLS?" Beastboy shouted, but was duely ignored.

"I can't sense any bombs anywhere near me," Raven told the others.

"And I ain't picking up diddley on my sensors," Cyborg agreed. "East side's clear. And occording to the rest of you, West and South are too. That just leaves the North side where Robin was looking. And if he hasn't found anything yet, what with how thorough his searches tend to be... how 'bout I go get Robin, and we'll meet up with all of you at the tower." The others agreed, and signed off. "At least he didn't turn off his tracking device..." Cyborg muttered to himself, following the blip on the screen.

Suddenly... "Cyborg! We need to stop the others! NOW!"

"Ahh!" Cyborg screamed, not expecting Robin so suddenly. "How did-? You were just over-?"

"Not the time! The others are in danger! We need to stop them! I can't get ahold of them over their communicators!"

"What's going on? How can they be in danger at the tower?"

"Slade was just distracting us," Robin explained as he ran towards the tower, Cyborg trailing him.

"Well I know that, there was no bomb-"

"-in the city," Robin finished. "That doesn't mean there is no bomb."

"You mean-"

"The bomb's somewhere in the tower." At those words, both boys sped up.

"What do you mean you couldn't get ahold of them? I just talked to them, right after you turned you communicator off!" Cyborg didn't bother hiding the annoyance in his voice.

"I didn't disconnect, I uh, my communicator's broken. Can you get ahold of them with yours?"

"Yea, sure." While waiting for the others to answer, Cyborg asked, "So, your communicator isn't working?"

"It's broken," was the response he got. Robin's cheeks seemed to be getting redder, but Cyborg assumed it was from the running.

"Well, how'd it break?"

"I uh, see, it-" Robin was saved his stuttered response when Raven answered.

"Hello? Cyborg?" Robin sighed in relief, though Cyborg gave him a look saying he wasn't satisfied with his half answer, and would be interrogating him later.

"Yea, Rae? Are the others with you?" she nodded. "Good. Don't go into the tower! Any of you! There's a bomb in there!"

"Where?" she asked back, worry evident in her tone. Robin took Cyborg's communicator out of his hand, and took charge.

"We don't know, but the 'bombs in the city'? They were a distraction. The real bomb's really in the tower."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. From the intel I have-"

"What intel? The fact that it's not in the city? Or do you know something we don't?" Cyborg asked.

"We're wasting time! Raven, scan the tower. See if you can detect a bomb!"

"If you insist... hold on." her communicator was placed on the ground next to her, and she started levitating as her soul self searched the tower. Her soul self rushed back into her body with a gasp, and she hurridly picked up her communicator. "Robin's right. There's a bomb in the tower. Wanna guess where?"

"Basement? Living room? Garage? Launch pad? Evidence room?" Beastboy shouted out in the backround.

"So it's in my room?" Robin asked wearily. His response was a nod.

"Aparently Slade's vendetta isn't over with you."

"Was there a timer on the bomb?" he asked, voice growing determined.

"There's gotta be one somewhere," Cyborg started, "but whether or not it's in plain sight..."

"I didn't see one. There's no way to know when it's going to go off." she turned off her communicator, seeing as by this time the two remaining titans were in sight.

"Well that'll make things more fun. Raven, can you teleport me in?"

"What?" she and Starfire shrieked simultaniously.

He shrugged nonchalantly, and explained, "If you teleport me to the bomb, I can disable it before it causes any problems."

"But Rob, if you don't disable it in time-" Beastboy started to reason.

"I'll be fine! Now hurry! The more time we stand around here, the less chance we have of stopping the bomb in time!"

"But Robin-" Cyborg protested.

"I'm going in there."

"You're only human!" he shouted back. Silence for a beat. "You're risking your life."

"Yea, the norm since I was three, what's your point? It's a risk I'm willing to take. And just because I don't have fancy powers doesn't make me weak and vounerable."

"We never said-"

"Just teleport me inside!" with a sigh, Raven complied.

"Be careful," she asked, before stepping back into her portal. He nodded, and got to work.

Raven stepped out of the portal onto the sandy shore across the bay, not meeting the eyes of the others. "He's going to be fine," she said, more to convince herself than the others. "He knows what he's doing."

"Who knows what they're doing?" asked none other than Bruce Wayne, walking over to them. "Enjoying the sunny day? I know I am! Say, where'd Robin go?" Airhead.

The titans shared a mutual look. It wouldn't be good to worry him. It wouldn't do any good. It wasn't like HE of all people could deactivate a bomb.

"He's inside," Beastboy explained. It was the truth... mostly.

"Instead of enjoying the sun, hanging out with his friends? That's no fun! How about I go get talk to him and see if I can get him to come outside?"

"NO!" The titans shouted. Bruce's face went from suspicious to dumbly-confused so fast that they questioned seeing the first expression to begin with. "Uh... he said not to bother him?" was all that Beastboy could come up with, and the others went along with it.

"Yea! Uh, he gets really upset whenever Slade's involved. Its a bad idea to mess with him," Cyborg lamely finished.

"Well my eldest son, Richard? He can get like that too. I bet I know just the trick to cheer him up, if you'll let me. Unless there's another reason why he should be left alone?" In that moment, the titans realized that Bruce Wayne, whoever he _really_ was, was no fool. "What's really going on? You left to fight Slade early this morning. You couldn't have possibly been fighting him this entire time. What really happened?"

Sighing, Cyborg nodded to Raven, signaling for her to tell the story. After all, she knew Robin best.

"You'd be surprised how long it takes to fight Slade," she started. "He's no ordinary man. Most likely one of the best tacticians on the planet. A good fighter too. He likes to mess with everyone, psychologically. He's done that to Robin in particular on several occasions. He wants to train Robin to follow in his footsteps. As an apprentice. It worked the first time. Robin was blackmailed into working for him. Robin never felt the need to tell us what happened while he was there. He was just glad to be home. Today, we found out some things... personal things between them. Apparently, they figured out each others secret I.D.'s. the only thing keeping Slade from telling everyone who Robin is, is respect. And some sort of deal they worked out. Robin made a comment that apparently Slade thought revealed too much, and he spilled secrets of Robin's."

"He didn't tell you his identity or anything, did he?"

"No! Just... nothing. Anyway, we found Slade and his... new apprentice. Apparently Robin knew her. An old girlfriend or something. Well, she tried to get him to turn, come back to her. He refused, and we left. About an hour ago, we got a call from her, saying there were bombs planted in the city. There weren't though."

"A blatant lie, or a diversion?"

"Diversion, so Slade could plant the real bomb in the tower."

"Wait- didn't you say Robin's in there?"

"Yea, he is. He's dismantaling the bomb," Beastboy said to the taller man, worry evident on both faces. "He insisted on going. None of the rest of us know how to, besides Cyborg. Robin wouldn't have let him go anyway. He's too stuborn."

"So that's it? You just let him waltz in there?" Bruce asked, angrily. "He's just a kid! All of you are! You do magnificent work, and I commend you for it, but this is a bit_ much _for a kid like him to handle."

"He's handled and seen worse. Worse than even you have living in Gotham I'm sure, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce of course knew Robin could handle it. It was what he was trained to do. But the titans couldn't know that, now could they? He was already toeing the line of bat-territory. He hadn't seen his old sidekick in a while, and the last he had seen of him fighting (besides the security tapes of his break-in to Wayne Enterprises a few years back) was the day that the Joker had- no. He wouldn't think of that.

Even so, it took all of his self restraint not to just run into the tower and dismantle the bomb himself. He sighed, worried still. He was Bruce now, not Batman. He could afford to show some emotion. "How much time does he have left?" he asked in regaurds of the timer.

"We don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Bruce asked voice almost growl like.

"When I teleported him into the tower, there was no timer that we could see on the bomb. It could go off at any time."

"How long has he been working on it?"

"About-"

"Four minutes and twenty-three seconds," Starfire cut in. The exact time showed just how worried the unusually quiet ailien had become.

_"The bomb has been disabled. I'm working on taking it appart now." _Robin's voice called out from three different communicators. It took Cyborg a moment to realize Robin had his. He looked over Raven's shoulder, and smiled at his friend.

"That's great man! So everything's okay?"

"Yea, but you guys should stay there just in case Slade's rigged the bomb. Knowing him..."

"Are you sure you don't want backup?" Cyborg asked.

"Nah, I'm fine. Batman trained me to do stuff like this since I was nine. I'm fine. And if something does happen... no. Not now. What with two days being... nevermind. I'll be out there in a couple of-"

Nothing. All audio and visual stopped working. No rhyme or reason. "Not again..." Cyborg muttered. "Rob? Robin!"

His calls were drowned out by the following explosion. "Robin! Are you okay? Rob! Do you read me!"

That's it... Bruce thought. His son was in there, with an exploding bomb for crying out loud! He ignored the protests of the titans, who seemed to be too busy calling into a communicator waiting for Robin to respond that everything was Jim-dandy and swell. That in the last 20 seconds, he had gained meta-human invounerability. Yea. Throwing his identity away or not, his son was in that building.

Batman ran to the tower.

A/N: Before you ask, yea, the last sentence is meant to say Batman instead of Bruce. It's the one and only thing i've picked up on from reading *shudders* A Tale of Two Cities *thunder claps in the backround with bolts of lightening followed* Dramatics aside, I hope you all enjoyed this!

Reviews = Motivation! Feel free to flame the hell outa me if you'd like! You know you wanna review, especially you story alert-ers. Yea, all 59 of ya. You know who you are. Or hows about the 43 of you that favorited this very story? You know you wanna review ;) You guys rock!


	13. Musings

**FINALLY! INTERNET IS BACKKK! :D MAN IT IS GOOOD TO BE HERE :D HAHAHA. **

**In other news... HOLY CHEESE FESTIVAL OF DOOM! THIS STORY IS 10 REVIEWS AWAY FROM HAVING 100 REVIEWS! WOWZERS! **

**ENJOY :D**

Chapter 13

"Robin? Richard! God dammit, what have you gotten yourself into this time!" Bruce called out for his son, exasperated. Ignoring the Titans, who had finally come out of shock long enough to do more than stand and shout into a communicator, Bruce ran through the tower, searching for his son.

"Dammit! Where are you?" following the smell of smoke, Bruce, and now the titans, raced towards Robin's room, dreading what they would find. They pried the door to his room open, immediately all choking on the onslaught of smoke. Covering their faces with capes and shirts, all members of this makeshift search party continued looking around for the missing boy wonder, despite the fact that each was just as good as blinded by the smoke.

"Someone open a window!" Beastboy yelled, while simultaneously coughing his guts out. Cyborg complied, and soon the smoke was clearing out, making locating Robin much, much simpler.

"Here!" Raven called everyone over, having spotted the boy wonder, clutching what seemed to be a photo album of all things to his chest. "Robin? Robin, can you hear me?" His only response was a weak groan, and a sound of protest when she tried to pry the large book away from him. "Robin, we need to make sure you're okay. I'm teleporting you to the infirmary, alright?" He mumbled a response, only half conscious.

Back in Robin's room, the titans investigated. "Strange…" Bruce noted, more to himself.

"What?" Cyborg asked, overhearing.

"If this bomb was really meant to kill anyone, or at least cause damage, shouldn't there have been more then smoke as a result? By the lack of damage done, that 'bomb' might as well have been a firework. Especially considering most of your team consists of metahuman's, this was just about as pointless as sending a can of whipped cream in the mail. The only thing unusual is the smoke."

"Yea, there shouldn't have been so much. And if it was just an average smoke bomb, the smoke wouldn't have been so thick or dark. And Robin would've known what it was at first sight.

"Unless there are unknown components in the bomb – some form of chemical. Most likely a hallucinogen of some sort.

"Yea, it was most likely – wait - how would you know that?" Cyborg asked, suspiciously.

"You learn a few things after the first dozen or so bomb threats," Wayne smoothly explained, diverting Cyborg's suspicions.

"So… this sorta thing happens to you a lot?" the metal man asked, as he took samples of the air and the remains of the bomb.

Bruce contemplated his answer for a moment, before answering, "Gotham isn't exactly the… _safest_ place to live."

Cyborg nodded in agreement. "Went there once or twice with my folks on business trips- can't say I thought highly of the place. Though I guess it's a bit better now, what with Batman and his crew. I've heard Gotham's crawling with vigilantes."

"It's crawling with just as many criminals, if not more."

"True… though it's not the worst place out there, you know? Robin told me once he thought about going to Blϋdhaven when he left Gotham. That he'd do the hero thing by night, and be a cop by day. Clean up the city 24/7."

"A cop in Blϋdhaven? At fifteen? That's a suicide mission in itself, besides being illegal."

"Yea, right? That's how I thought of it at first too. But he reminded me real fast about how while I could be considered a 'hero' he's a vigilante. How technically, he works outside of the law."

"Which is true, no matter how much good he does. There's always that one cynic that's going to try and bring him in for 'justice,' no matter how absurd it may seem."

"Exactly. He asked me, since he was already a vigilante, how much of a difference would it make if he decided to forge a license, give himself a new name, and enroll in a police academy? Why not do more good before getting caught?"

"Well that's an interesting topic to debate…"

"And which side would you be on?" Cyborg asked, curious.

"The law is the law… but he does good work. Anyone that dedicated to fighting the good fight shouldn't be stopped… so long as they aren't causing harm to themselves or going completely overboard."

"I guess… but that's just the thing. The man's got something to prove. I don't know what, or to whom- Batman, his family, maybe even Slade or a combination of all three – but he tries more than his best every day. Sometimes he just doesn't know when to quit."

Before Bruce could respond, Cyborg's communicator interrupted. _Robin's awake. _Raven announced, before ending the transmission. "I better go check up on him and test those samplings…" Cyborg said, walking towards the door.

"And I'd best be checking up on what Damian and Tim are up to," Bruce admitted, also slipping out of the room. But not before pinpointing the exact location of a microphone previously planted by Slade, and placing a tiny transmitter next to it that would cut audio and visual feed from the device.

**Yea, short and sweet, but hey, gotta have some filler chapters... trust me, there'll be plently of action in the future ;) reviews = motivtion = plotbunnies = faster udates :D**


	14. Food for Thought

**Miss me? I've sure missed fanfiction. And downtime in general (heh, YJ pun... lol) I've been super-duper busy with Marching Band and highschool, and my brain has been mush. Hopefully this is a satisfactory 'we're baaaaaaaack!' type deal. lol. enjoy :D**

Ch 14

Robin sat up groggily, immediately wishing he hadn't. "Oww… what happened?" he asked Raven, who was sitting in the chair besides him.

"Don't you remember? There was a bomb you were defusing, it went off while you were in the process…"

"Right…"

"Do you know what the target was? There was minimal damage to your room, and the only damage to you was done by the shards of metal that got into your skin."

"But I was unconscious?" Robin asked, still confused.

"Probably because of the smoke," Beastboy explained, "It was impossible to breath in there until we opened the windows and it cleared out."

"I guess… but I'm used to smoke and bog and pollution from back in Gotham… usually I'd get to my gas mask in time… must've breathed in a lot of it to go out that fast…"

"That, and the fact that you have a mild concussion, broken ankle, bruised rib cage…" Raven supplied.

"Of course I do…" Robin muttered. Suddenly remembering something, he shot up out of bed. "Where is it?"

"Robin! Calm down!" Raven and Beastboy tried to restrain him.

"Dude, you need to chill! What part of mild concussion don't you get?"

"It's mild, I've dealt with worse," he brushed off, unimpressed, "now where is it?"

"Where is what?" Beastboy asked, exasperated.

"The book – **where **is it? That was the target! That's what the bomb was trying to destroy! It has to be okay, where is it?"

"Dude, that's the target? A scrapbook? Why would Slade-"

"Those pictures are all that's left of -!" he cut himself off. "It's pictures of my family in there. I-I don't visit them very often…" Catching his drift, Raven solemnly handed him the large book.

"Thanks." Robin carefully opened the book, at the moment not caring whether or not Raven or Beastboy saw the pictures. He let out a sigh of relief, seeing the pictures were all intact. He flipped to a page which had his favorite picture.

"Your mom and dad?" Beastboy asked, pointing out the two taller figures. Robin nodded. "And… you?" Robin confirmed again, looking down at the picture. The photo was old fashioned, taken on a black and white camera, and was from Dick's 9th birthday – the last one he had spent with his parents.

"May I…?" Raven trailed off, curious, and wanting to see the book. With a shrug, Robin handed it over. She looked intently at the picture. "You look just like your mother," she mused aloud. A sad smile came over the boy wonder's face.

"I used to hear that all the time."

"Used to-oh." Robin's former statement suddenly made sense to Beastboy. He grew serious. "I know how you feel, man. I'm in the same boat."

Raven smiled grimly. "It almost seems like a job requirement in this field. Why can't there be any happy back-stories?"

"Well, if everyone had a great past, it'd be impossible for things to get better," Robin pointed out. "If I hadn't been forced to leave the happiest place I had ever known, and to leave the people I loved the most," He turned the page, "I wouldn't have met such wonderful friends: you guys."

"Way to make this a sappy moment…" muttered the very un-touchy-feely empath. Robin laughed weakly in response.

"Hey, it may come as a shock, but sap is my forte," he said with a wink. Beastboy rolled his eyes.

"Yea, dude, and Batman's a poet," he stated sarcastically.

Sly grin on his face, Robin answered, "Well, actually-"

"La la la! Don't wanna hear it! Sorry, nope! No bat-poetry here! Nada! Nope! None of it!" He ran out of the room, calling, "I'm gonna go order food before Star starts cooking nasty Robin-just-almost-got-blown-up-pudding or something!"

"Anyting but pizza!" Raven called after him.

"What's that you say, Rae? Pizza? Okay!" the changeling called back.

"No-Beastboy!" She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go stop him from getting pizza… again."

"Here, wait a sec, I'll come with-"

"No. Stay here. You just got a concussion, and-"

"I used to go out on patrol with much worse then that. I'm fine," he said, getting up.

"But you're rib, and ankle-"

"I'll use crutches."

"-With the disorientation of a concussion? You'll use a wheelchair."

"What?" he called in protest. "I'm fine! I don't need-"

"It's either that or I'm carrying you myself."

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Joked the boy wonder, trying to get off the hook. She encompassed him in a glowing orb of energy. He pouted like a little kid. "Alright, I'll use the chair. But only 'cause I know 'the face' won't work on you."

"… why am I not surprised that you have one of those pouty-faces?"

"Hey, it was genius – it bested the bat-glare several times. Why do you think Kid Flash, Speedy and I haven't been murdered by our mentors yet?"

"…touché." Robin wheeled himself into the main room, Raven trailing behind, stern gaze trailed on her patient. As soon as the door opened, everyone turned towards the too. Starfire, catching sight of the wheelchair gasped in surprise.

"Oh, Xhal! Robin, are you alright? I did not realize how severely you were injured and-"

"Starfire, I'm fine," seeing Cyborg's dubious glance, he reaffirmed, "really, I am. Raven's just fussing. Just a mild concussion and a broken ankle is all. No big deal."

"I don't fuss…" Raven muttered darkly to herself, only Robin hearing, grinning at her response.

"You do so," he responded under his breath, to her surprise.

"Oh! My varklerglacken!" Starfire called out, rushing over to the oven, smoke pouring out of it. As soon as her back was turned, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. "Fear not friends, I shall make more!"

"No!" Beastboy shouted so very tactfully. "Uh, I mean…"

"What he means, Star," Robin cut in, wheeling himself over to the kitchen, "is that we don't want you to have to go through all that trouble, we'll just order out tonight. I'm sure it would've tasted great, though!" he encouraged.

"Oh, varklerglacken is considered a delicacy back on Tamaran! I am sure you all would have enjoyed it immensely! I'll make it again some other day!"

"You… have fun with that..?" Raven attempted. "Here, let's go find Tim and Damian… or something…" she left the room, the Tamaranian trailing behind her. As soon as they were gone…

Beastboy and Cyborg were in front of Robin, mock bowing to him. "Dude- we owe you our lives!" they thanked, dramatically.

"So… does that mean we can get Chinese for dinner?" Robin suggested hopefully.

"Chinese? Dude! No way! Pizza!"

"Again? Hey, I just saved you from Robin-almost-got-blown-up pudding! We're getting Chinese."

Beastboy sighed. "Case in point, dude… case in point…"

"Chinese it is then!"

"You know, for a guy that's oober-doober-famous, you sure have low standards in food."

"…This all coming from the two who live on pizza, tofu, and meat."

"…Shut up."

Just then, Raven and Starfire burst into the room. "Damian and Tim are gone!"

"And," Raven added dryly, "so is the T-Sub."

**So how was it? Worth the wait? Not worth the time of day? Irked that I haven't thrown in a Professor X crack in there yet? (trust me I will!) Confused? Let me know! I'll even lisen to psychotic rants ;)**


	15. Racing

**A/N: I'm back :D miss me? Please don't yell at me. Or do. I don't mind. But I *did* promise I wouldn't abandon stories! So here ya go!**

Ch 15

Bruce walked into the main room, unaware of the frantic state everyone was in. "Oh, Robin, you're up! I hope you're doing okay!"

"Not now," Robin asked, "We've got bigger fish to fry."

"Oh, Titans business, of course. Say, have you seen Tim or Damian around? I know they went to town earlier, but I haven't heard from them."

"Oh, they've been busy alright," Raven acknowledged dryly, "hijacking the T-Sub."

Bruce, though not worried at all, put on a show. "What? Why on earth would they even consider doing something so dangerous! And without asking permission too! They're going to get a stern talking to when they get back!" He paced back and forth like a worried parent. He shook his head. "At least they couldn't have gotten far, right? They're probably somewhere around the island, right?"

"_Of course_, Mr. Wayne," Robin said, trying to tone down the sarcasm. "It's not like the sub turns into a ship and is capable of flying or something…"

"What?" Bruce asked, spinning to face him.

"Nothing! I was kidding, just trying to lighten the mood! Don't worry, the T-Sub has a tracer on it. We'll find them. How about you go back to your room and relax. We'll let you know when we find them, okay?"

"Alright…" Bruce left the room, throwing one last suspicious look back at his former ward.

"You _did _build in a tracer, right Cyborg?" Sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, Cyborg tried to stutter-mumble out the answer: an obvious no. Robin let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Great."

"I think I can track them down," Raven spoke up. "Robin, you know them best, and have been in the most contact with them. There should be some residual aura left on you. If you would let me in your mind, into memories of them, I might be able to pick up on their aura, and find them.

"If it'll work, then go right ahead," Robin agreed with a shrug. "It's not like you haven't been in my head before." Raven got into a meditative position, floating in the air. She connected her consciousness to Robin's.

"_Robin?" _she asked, mentally.

_"I'm here. And yes, they're at the drop point, ready to go. But we seriously need to work on your BSing skills- 'residual aura'? Really?"_

_"You let me know when you've got a better idea. And it's not like any of them know a thing about how my powers technically work…"_

_"True. But this 'psychic chatroom' of yours could've been useful over the years."_

_"It only works with you because of the bond our minds formed when I went into your psyche. As you know, I saw a lot that I wasn't supposed to see. I'd rather not go through that process with everyone else too. Can you imagine what Beastboy might think about?" _She mentally shuddered._ "Think it's been enough time to have rooted through psychic energy?"_

_"Yea, sure. Why not." _Raven took this as her cue to dramatically shoot open her eyes, seemingly in haste.

"They're on the other side of town, somewhere near the piers! I'll be able to pinpoint their location better if I get closer."

"Alright. Raven, you hunt them down. Bring Starfire with you, just in case you need to separate them. _Don't_ underestimate them. Bring 'em back in the T-Sub, provided that they haven't lost it or gotten it totaled."

"We will bring them back shortly!" Starfire agreed, floating down the hall, Raven in tow.

"Cyborg?"

"Yea?"

"I've got an equally important assignment for you, as well."

"And what's that?" the metal man asked, eyebrow raised.

Robin smirked amusement in his voice, "Picking up dinner?"

Cyborg rolled his eyes, but agreed to the task. Everyone was hungry. "Yea, yea, I'll call in now."

"Yea, hurry up dude!" Beastboy cut in to the conversation, "We're all starving!"

Meanwhile, downtown…

"There! Starfire pointed down at the two boys, who were walking along the pier, dripping wet, and obviously lost.

The two heroes dropped down in front of the pair. Raven only needed to raise an eyebrow, before the excuses came pouring in.

"It was _his_ idea!" Tim shouted, pointing at Damian. "I just went along because I knew he would do it either way and he had no clue what he was doing, and-"

"Are you serious, Drake?" Damian cut in, "I knew exactly what I was doing! It's quite simple to operate a machine that obviously took influence from a _racing _game." He spat out the words with obvious distaste.

"And what's wrong with racing games?" Tim asked, offended.

"They're obviously made for kids with simple minds, such as yourself.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" Before the bickering could continue, Raven interrupted by placing strips of energy over their mouths, effectively cutting them off, to the annoyance of both boys.

"Who's idea this was matters not – we must locate where you have docked the T-Sub, and get back home to the tower, where we shall commence in eating the food of Chinese origin! Is this plan not clear?" Starfire asked, authoritatively.

Damian and Tim meekly nodded their heads, Raven dissipating the energy blocking their speech. Though at their next words, it probably would have been better to have kept them quiet.

"We don't exactly know where it is at this point…" Tim dared to explain.

"You lost it?" Starfire asked, in disbelief. "How do you loose a water vehicle so large in size?"

"Well-"

"Save it," Raven cut in. "We'll deal with this tomorrow. Right now, let's just get back to the tower, enjoy dinner, and have a peaceful evening. It's been a long day without you two adding to it." With Starfire's nod of approval, Raven teleported the group to the tower. "_They better have saved me some Lo Mein…"_

A half hour or so later, they, along with everyone else, found themselves lounging about the main room, enjoying their dinner. Raven, thankfully, did get a hold of the Lo Mein. (Bad things happen when she doesn't…) Everyone took this time to just… relax. Well, for the most part.

"So, Raven," Robin started, wheeling over to where she was seated, "If you teleported everyone back, what exactly happened to the T-Sub?"

"Not today, Robin. We'll deal with that mess tomorrow."

"Wait, what? What'd they do?" he asked, annoyance evident.

Changing the subject, Raven started, loudly enough for everyone around to overhear, "Did you know that racing games, according to Damian, are child's play?"

"Well he's right," Robin responded with a shrug, "They're easy to play, and kind of tedious once you've ran the track a couple of times."

This of course, re-spawned Tim and Damian's previous argument, Cyborg joining Tim's side of the (somewhat) friendly debate, along with Beastboy. Raven, having no tolerance for any kind of videogame, joined Damian and Robin's side of the debate. Starfire, realizing she was in the tie-breaker position, smartly decided to stay neutral, albeit on her own team.

"I rather enjoy the videogames in which you run around as a tiny, strangely proportioned person who goes around on quests!" At the end of several odd looks, she explained, "I believe it is called 'Sims Kingdom?'" To which a chorus of understanding "Oh's" followed. At the most heated part of the debate, Bruce stepped in, having been previously on a business call.

All heads turned to him. He looked between the two sides, and realized he was standing in Starfire's neutral territory. He looked again between the teams, taking note of who was on each side. A look of understanding came onto his face.

With an exasperated sigh, he only had to ask: "Racing games?" To which he was answered with several nods. As Beastboy opened his mouth to ask which side Bruce was on, he held up a hand to stop him.

"There is absolutely no way you're dragging me into this. Keep in mind, after all this I still have to _live _with those two," he explained, motioning between Damian and Tim. "I think I'm just going to get to bed." As soon as he turned his back, there were muffled groans of exasperation from both sides. "Although…" he stopped, a trolling smirk on his face.

Everyone leaned forward in curiosity and anticipation. "Just to stop this argument long enough for you all to get to bed," he started, motioning towards the clock, "would it be okay if I put someone else's opinion in as a temporary tie-breaker?"

"What do you mean?" Tim asked, curiosity in his voice.

"Well, I can't say my take on it – after all, I have to go home and _live _with the two of you," he said, motioning to Tim and Damian, "but I know my eldest son, Richard, was _not_ a fan of racing games." He left the room in silence.

"As much as I hate to point it out…does that vote even count?" Surprisingly, it was Damian who asked this, looking between Tim and Robin.

"Yea, he's not even here," Tim agreed.

"But I am," a voice spoke up from behind everyone. Everyone spun around to find… Red X? "And I personally think racing games are stupid. If that counts for anything." Everyone just stared, too shocked to move. "Oh, and happy birthday, kid," he said, nodding at Robin. He teleported out of the tower with a small teasing solute.

After five minutes…

"Did he just…?"

"Yea."

Silence.

"Time for bed?"

"Yup."

And so ended day one.

**Thoughts on this? Let me know :) Yelling and ranting acceptable, flames used for marshmellow roasting, nice comments enjoyed and reveled in!**


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